


Only Fools Rush In

by River9Noble



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: And Then Some, Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Dead Bruce Wayne, Discord: STAY Server JaySteph Valentine's Day Exchange, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Falling In Love, Identity Porn, Jason Todd Rare Pair Challenge, JaySteph - Freeform, References to Shakespeare, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:20:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29424441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/River9Noble/pseuds/River9Noble
Summary: Say it was too dark to see faces in the club.And say Steph just happened to accidentally, maybe, hook up on the dance floor with someone she hated, who hated her back. Cue the enemies to lovers to enemies to awkward acquaintances to friends to lovers trope.
Relationships: Stephanie Brown/Jason Todd
Comments: 67
Kudos: 75
Collections: Focus on Female Characters, Jason Todd Rare Pair Challenge





	1. Here's Where She Meets Prince Charming

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BunnyJess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyJess/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Something To Get You Off My Mind](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28639056) by [AnonDude](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonDude/pseuds/AnonDude). 



> I wrote this for my fabulous twinnie-in-law Adam (aka 1/2 of author BunnyJess here on AO3) for the JaySteph STAY Discord Server Valentine's Day Exchange based on his prompts 
> 
> Awkward First Date  
> and, if you stretch the prompt like a rubber band, Interrupted for a Mission (in later chapters) 
> 
> AND, I got this trope of dancing and/or hooking up in the dark club with someone you realllllly didn't mean to from the awesome author AnonDude in his story "Something to Get You Off My Mind," which he credits in his author's notes as a trope Inspired by Sam Smith's 'Dancing With A Stranger' and a Tumblr post by @itssexualhour. I hope you’ll check his fic out too!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did edit all the chapter titles to be quotes from Beauty and the Beast because it's Twinnie and Twinnie-in-law's favorite movie!!! If you know the line that comes after this chapter title, well, it's a hint.

Jason _Fucking_ Todd, Steph thought to herself as she buckled the final strap on her knee high boot.

If she had to hear one more word out of his stupid mouth - or catch one more sneer - or work on one more motherfuckin mission with him, she was going to lose her damn mind.

Steph straightened up and stuffed her ID and cash and key into her bra before fluffing out her hair and checking her makeup one last time. She'd told Oracle in no uncertain terms that she was taking tonight off after last night's Asshattery of Epic Proportions.

Ok, so, yes, Steph wanted Jason to keep his damn mouth shut when it came to his little digs about unqualified people who didn't belong in the field because they lacked the brain cells to properly assess danger (among other things) - but would it kill him to, oh, she didn't know, _talk_ to her over the comms when Oracle assigned them to a joint take-down?

How helpful it would have been if Red Hood had said last night, "Hey, Batgirl, you take the perps on the right and I'll take the ones on the left," instead of starting to go for the ones on the right himself, then whirling around as soon as Steph let loose with a gooperang only to shoot her intended _lefthand_ target out from under her - which, thanks a lot, Jason, gooperangs were frickin' expensive and when she missed her damn target (because somebody shot them in the leg after literally watching her throw the gooperang) then Steph's late night, after-the-fight scavenger hunt got real annoying, real fast.

And it wasn't like Jason had only done it once. Oh, no. No, Red Hood had seemed more determined than usual to ignore Batgirl's presence last night. No, wait, scratch that. He'd been fuckingly aware of her presence and deliberately making her miss target after target which was why Steph was good and pissed and going to the club tonight where she was going to find some random stranger to work out her frustrations on in the most spine-tingling way possible.

Fuck that Jason Todd.

* * *

The music was loud and the club was dark and Steph was dancing away, pressed up against bodies in a sea of shadows pulsing under the roving colored lights. No one had quite caught her fancy yet - some guys were too drunk, one had clammy hands, one was an awful dancer, one mashed her boobs from behind so hard it hurt, earning himself a sharp elbow to the ribs that made him tumble to the floor - Steph was going for hot sex, after all, not a bang with some asshat who had never bothered to properly learn his way around a woman's body.

But hello, what was this? A hand landing on her waist from behind that was A. warm, and B. sexy and confident, not gripping her too hard, but not the slightest bit hesitant, either, palming her curves and following her moves with a light touch that still managed to be enticingly, mouth-wateringly invitational.

Oh, Jason Todd was _so_ about to get fucked out of Steph's system.

Steph smiled and shimmied backwards into her hot dancer's chest - and he was tall and built, better and better - so Steph arched a hand up and behind to cradle his neck while they danced closer. His other hand landed on her stomach, fingers splayed and sensually rubbing the fishnet lace they found there while his right hand slid from her hip to her abdomen, tugging Steph tighter against his yep, half-hard and getting harder cock.

Steph leaned her head back against his shoulder so she could look up at her mystery man, but it was too dark to make out any of his features. Not that it really mattered. With hands and a bod like his, he'd do just fine. Steph trailed her right hand down to lay on top of his, interlacing their fingers as she helped him grind her lower half against his growing erection.

Lips landed on the intersection of Steph's neck and shoulder, and she moaned softly as they nipped and sucked at her while his fingers inched lower. Steph closed her eyes and lost herself in the haze of pleasure that coursed through her as they swayed together in the dark, reveling in the feel of a stranger learning how to take her body apart right on the dance floor.

When the shivers running through her body felt like they had to explode out of her, Steph turned her head and caught her sexy dancer's mouth in a hot kiss that he returned just as eagerly, a kiss that made his hands forget how to move on her body until they suddenly spun her around to face him and landed on her fluffy tulle-clad ass.

Steph smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, thankful for the extra inch or two her Docs gave her that not only let her keep kissing him without a strain, but lined up her mound with his now very hard cock that was pressing against her so perfectly that Steph finally had to drop her head from the kiss to bury her face in her hottie's chest, mumbling 'fuck' as she clung to him and dissolved into a warm puddle.

She felt rather than heard his low chuckle reverberating through his stomach before one of his hands slipped from her ass cheek to slide in-between their tightly pressed together bodies, rubbing her over her sinfully short skirt for a good minute before fingertips were slipped under under the hem, brushing her thigh in a silent question.

Steph groaned and widened her stance to give him access, getting not only the rumble of a low growl this time but more kisses, this time to the top of her head and her ear, since her face was still buried against his shoulder. Steph hooked her right leg around his (wow, surprisingly well-toned) thigh, partially to let him have more room to play, but also to kind of half hide where his hand was. Not that anyone could see anything in the dark, but, well, Steph wasn't a total exhibitionist, ok?

Everyone else could mind their own damn business while Steph got fingered on the dance floor. Nobody could hear her moan when his fingers reached her already dripping slit, but Steph definitely heard the rough, 'Oh, _fuck_ ,' when her hookup discovered that her fishnet bodysuit was in fact crotchless.

Hey, Steph was Batgirl. Preparation was her middle name and all that. She had come here on a mission tonight, after all.

Steph's moans turned to little whimpers and sighs masked by the deafening music as calloused fingers gently stroked along her slit, working into her slick to slowly part her folds before beginning a dizzying slide from her opening to her clit and back again, sometimes lazily lingering on her nub before driving her crazy by circling her hole, and occasionally twisting his knuckles up so she could grind down against them.

Oh, fuck, it was getting hard to breathe right and goddamn if Steph didn't need his fingers inside her _now_ , so she tugged impatiently at his hair until he was laughing and probing and sliding not just one, but two fingers into her sopping channel, twisting and turning them until Steph's wrenching of his hair let him know that he had found the perfect spot, although the way she started thrusting against his fingers might have also given him a clue.

And then he was pumping in time with her hip circles, and squeezing her ass for good measure and Steph felt the prickly hot chills of an impending orgasm race along her spine far before she wanted it to, because damn he felt good and Steph was so going home with him to finish this the right way, but first she was - oh, fuck, gonna come right on the dance floor, shaking and shivering on his fingers and clenching her lips around him while she moaned into his shirt and raked her fingers through his scalp and thank fuck, she had needed that, and he had slow hands, too, and wasn't rushing to pull out but teasing her through her aftershocks and he was probably gonna have a wet spot on his shirt afterwards from where Steph's mouth was planted in a drawn out groan, but Steph was pretty sure he wouldn't mind.

When her body finally stilled, his fingers slid out and then they were pushing into her mouth, and Steph was licking herself off of him with a swirling tongue before he abruptly pulled them out and dove in to eat her off of herself with his own tongue, lapping up the last bits of juice and flavor in her mouth as his hand firmly gripped the back of her head so he could work her over in a way that made Steph ache to feel his tongue in other places, too.

Steph slipped her hand into the front of his pants while he kissed her, gripping his hard cock and squeezing a few times before pulling her hand out and interrupting their kiss with a palm to his tongue, which he licked and spat on for her until she replaced it on his cock and started stroking, fast and tight in the cramped space of his pants until he shuddered and came over her hand, long and hot and delicious and yeah, Steph's pussy was jealous.

She lifted her hand up to where their lips had barely parted and took the first lick before he started helping her clean it, and cleaning turned to kisses that he peppered over her knuckles before twisting their fingers together and bending down to growl into her ear, "My place?"

Steph nodded and turned, keeping their hands entwined as she led him through the packed dance floor, working their way to the edges of the crowd and finally to the exit. He squeezed Steph's fingers tight just before they pushed the door open and stepped out into the chillier night air, around the corner from the entrance line still snaking its way down the front sidewalk.

"I have my bike," he said, and Steph turned to ask if he'd been drinking, 'cause she didn't need to die tonight in a bike accident, thank you very much, and her apartment was within walking distance although she'd rather not let a strange guy have her address, even if he was so hot that Steph was thoughtfully considering just how difficult it would be to date a non-mask, and if there was any way that it could possibly work (assuming he might be interested in more than a one-night stand, of course) but even if they just became fuck-buddies Steph was thinking that would be pretty stellar, until she finished turning around and saw his face for the first time under the streetlight.

The words died in Steph's mouth faster than she'd bled out on Leslie's table.

Jason Peter Todd was staring back at her, mouth wide open, in equal amounts of horror.

"Oh, _shit_ ," he said.

Or maybe that's what Steph said. She didn't know. Strings of curses were ringing through her head as she stood there, staring stupidly at him, while anger and embarrassment and outrage and humiliation and fury and mortification and sheer, abject dumbfounded shock coursed through her body.

God _damn_ it, she finally thought in one coherent sentence, blinking as she came to.

Jason looked like he hadn't gotten quite as far as being capable of running away from the situation, so Steph did it for them both, whirling on her heel and stomping off down the road without another word.

"Steph!" she heard called after her a second later. Not that she turned around.

"Steph!" she heard more urgently, and then footsteps were pounding on the sidewalk after her and a hand was gripping her elbow and turning her around to face incredibly guilt-stricken eyes.

"I didn't know it was you," Jason said in a panic. "I swear, it was dark and I couldn't see your face -"

"I know," Steph cut him off shortly. "Me, too. Forget it."

She tried to turn to walk away again, but Jason's fingers were still holding her arm.

"What?" Steph snapped, looking up at him.

God, she should have known those blessed thighs were too good to exist on more than one human being in this universe. Fucking _dammit._

Jason was still standing there, though, staring at her like his brain was broken. And his hand, too, apparently, because when Steph tugged at her arm he wouldn't let go.

"Jason!" Steph said. "Quit it!"

He blinked and relaxed his grip, but didn't completely let go.

"I'll drive you home," he said. "Come on."

He tried to pull her towards the parking lot behind the club, but Steph snorted and yanked bank on him.

"I can walk," she said.

"Steph, come on," Jason said, closing his eyes briefly and pinching his eyebrows with his free hand in a manner disturbingly reminiscent of Bruce. "It's not safe and you know it. Just let me drive you and then we never have to talk about it again. Ok?"

"It's not safe… for _me?_ " Steph said pointedly, raising her eyebrows before making a big show of glancing down at her flat-soled, ass-kicking boots that yes, she had had the brains to wear to the club because yes, she damn well _could_ assess danger, Jason fucking Todd, and only an idiot would try to wander around the streets of Gotham at night in high heels without a safe ride home, and she was fucking Batgirl and she'd be damned if she let Jason cart her home like some damsel in distress or - or - like a real date.

Hell, she'd have gotten her own self home after they'd hooked up! If he'd been a stranger! Because what guy drove his hookups home afterwards instead of pretending to fall asleep and hoping they snuck out for a solo walk of shame? Come on. Steph had a little bit of experience in this area, after all.

But Jason was frowning at her with an all too familiar glower starting to cross his features.

"Blondie," he growled at her, "do not fucking fight me on this."

"I'll fucking fight you any damn time I want to fight you!" Steph snapped back, yanking really hard this time and jerking her arm free and determinedly striding around the corner to the front door line and the bouncers' eyes that turned suspiciously on Jason when he emerged from the alley in a rush right after her while she stalked away towards home.

"You all right?" one of them called to Steph as she passed by. "Want us to hold him up?"

Steph turned and glared full-on at Jason.

"I don't think that will be necessary," she said. "He was just leaving. Right, Jason?" she said with a menacing smile.

"Fine!" Jason said, holding his hands up and backing up. "Get yourself killed walking home by yourself. Be my guest," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he turned and stomped off back around the corner and out of sight.

"Thanks, though," Steph said, batting her eyelashes at the cuter one of the bouncers, who winked at her.

"You don't have a ride?" he asked her in a lower voice, actually looking slightly concerned. "The bus'll be by in a few minutes."

The bus stop was, of course, right across from the club, because no one with a will to live would call an Uber in Gotham. Not that the late-night drunk bus was a lot safer, but if you got on with a crowd, you at least had a 50-50 shot of getting home in one piece.

"I live close," Steph assured the bouncer. "And I can scream really loud," she winked back at him, although she twirled and skipped away before he could try to give her his number.

Steph felt a tingle on the back of her head when she unlocked her building's front door, and she oh-so-casually glanced over her shoulder to check the street behind her, only to see Jason lounging in the shadows across the street, watching her go in.

Steph huffed and slammed the door shut behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it so far, Twinnie-In-Law!!!! The fic is completely written and I'm gonna post a new chapter every night. To torture you and my dear readers but not too badly hehe. Just to add some suspenseful drama.


	2. Barely Even Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next one are a little shorter. Sorry for the tease! 
> 
> But I liked breaking the chapters up per significant relationship moments, so that made a few on the short side. There will be some longer chapters mixed in, though, and the last two of the story are extra long ones. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Jason was so subdued at their bi-weekly Batbunker meeting that even Babs noticed, although she apparently thought that she deserved the credit.

"I'm really proud of you, Jase," she said quietly during a lull while Dick was pulling up more slides of the latest smuggling op in the warehouse district, "for taking what I said about being more of a team player to heart."

"That's me," Jason quipped without so much as a glance towards Steph. "Team Batman all the way. Rah rah sis-boom-bah."

On his other side, Damian snorted in something that suspiciously resembled a giggle. Steph caught the tiny wink that Jason accompanied his half-smirk for his little brother with, and thought again how utterly unfair it was that Jason was only a full-on asshole to her.

Steph hadn't noticed his blatant discrimination before B had died - back then, team Batgirl did their own thing and B seemed to prefer to leave Jason the fuck alone as much as possible, rather than calling him in to assist on patrols.

But now, without Tim and Cass as the Bats' backbone, and with Dick still uncomfortable in his new suit, let alone his new role, not to mention coupled with a mostly feral mini-assassin that he was trying to mold into Robin, Jason, Steph, and Babs were not only mandatory regulars at the twice weekly Batmeetings, but Oracle kept throwing Jason and Steph together in team-ups to take down the biggest fights and henchmen that came Team Batman's way.

"Dick and Damian aren't ready," she'd confided in them not long after Dick had decided to take up the mantle.

And yeah, ok, Babs was right - the dynamic duo was more like the dysfunctional duo at the moment - but spending so much more time with Jason had shown Steph in no uncertain terms that her years-long belief that Jason was an equal-opportunity asshole was far from correct.

Oh, Jason could be an asshole to anyone, sure. But most of the time, he wasn't half mean to Dick and Babs and Steph had surprisingly never once seen him snark at Damian. It was only on Steph that Jason levied the full depths of his miserable personality at every possible moment.

"What is your problem with me?" Batgirl had demanded after a few weeks of insults and jabs and downright scorn from Red Hood. "Why do you hate me so much?"

Red Hood had actually deigned to remove his helmet to answer her, narrowing his eyes at her from behind his red domino while his lips twisted into a sneer.

"You're too stupid to be out here," he said coldly.

"What?" Steph had gasped, not even sure at first that he was serious.

"What kind of an idiot teenager," Jason had said, leaning into Steph's space and glaring down at her, "thinks she's capable of taking on Black Mask?"

Steph's mouth opened and closed soundlessly while white noise roared in her ears. Or maybe it wasn't white noise. Maybe it was a drill. Maybe it was -

"You never should have come back to Gotham," Jason went on, blithely ignoring Steph's distress, "and you sure as hell should never have put a suit on again."

Steph tried to moisten her tongue, but felt it scratchy against the roof of her mouth. What - what the hell -

"He was _your_ business partner!" Steph finally managed to spit out with her chest heaving.

"Yeah, because I was using him, dumbass," Jason said, rolling his eyes up into his head.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have been using someone so dangerous!" Steph yelled.

"Maybe _you_ shouldn't have thought you could take down the biggest gang in Gotham with shoddy ass training and a pink slip from Batman," Jason snarled.

Steph's hands unconsciously came up to grip the Bat-ears on her cowl as her thumbs rubbed the back of her head in a daze.

"What the hell makes you think I haven't learned anything since then?" Steph snapped. "Or that I would ever make that mistake again?"

"I don't give a shit what you've learned," Jason said. "I give a shit that I have to work with you. You should have followed your little boyfriend out west."

The crack of the slap that hit Jason's face resounded across the rooftop.

"He is _not_ my boyfriend," Steph said, "and you're a fucking asshole. As if B wasn't half responsible for what happened to me," she said, getting angrier, "and like I haven't worked my ass off training since then."

Jason shrugged.

"Can't train out the stupid," he said and then Steph really was punching him, but getting blocked and hit back and fuck, Steph knew that Cass took it easy on her, but Jason was really trying to kick her ass and when he went full-on League of Assassins it was over pathetically quickly, with Batgirl flat on her back while a disgusted Red Hood towered over her, glaring daggers for a long minute before grappling away, leaving her winded and sore and pissed the hell off.

Their working relationship had downright disintegrated after that night, until its most recent culminating asshattery that had made Steph call in a mental health day - so she could go get finger fucked by the very guy she hated.

Yeah.

Maybe she _was_ just stupid.

But at least Jason was, too, this time, because he'd been about to shit himself when he saw who he'd been hooking up with and that didn't exactly make Steph feel better, but she was grateful that it wasn't only her who'd been the careless idiot.

What were the odds, though, really? It wasn't fair, Steph sighed, only three-quarters tuned in as Dick started up his briefing again. Especially because - well - dammit - Jason had been really hot, ok? Like, super hot. And the dance floor sex had been scorching and she'd been really really looking forward to full-on sex with him afterwards and goddammit, she'd been horny and frustrated on top of being resentful and bitter and massively embarrassed for days, now, and sitting across from Jason in their meeting wasn't helping.

Jason glanced over at her and Steph realized that she'd been staring. She quickly looked away, avoiding a blush with massive amounts of Batcontrol that would have made B proud, if he'd been around to be proud, of his former Robin's skill at repressing emotional responses.

She couldn't help letting out a silent sigh, though.

* * *

Oracle was rolling out ahead of Steph, and Dick and Damian had already taken the elevator back up to the penthouse after the meeting, when Jason gently intercepted Steph before she could follow Babs out the door, angling his body in front of the doorframe.

"Can we talk for a sec?" he asked her.

"Um. Ok," Steph muttered, clenching her jaw and willing her cheeks to remain perfectly pale. "What's up?"

"Are you ok?" Jason asked her.

Steph blinked. Whatever she'd been expecting Jason to say, that wasn't it.

"Sure," she said evenly.

"I'm not gonna be an asshole to you anymore," Jason said, further compounding Steph's confusion.

"Uh, ok," Steph said. "Thanks…?"

Jason gave her a little nod, but the way that his eyes were searching her face was threatening to call forth a blush, and that simply would not do.

"Are you ok?" Steph said into the awkward silence.

Jason's face contorted in something resembling pain, and Steph was surprised at the gut-punch it gave her.

"Jason?" she said hesitantly.

"I've never had sex with anyone who I wasn't completely sure wanted it and could consent," Jason said, looking up to the ceiling like he, too, was trying to reign his treacherous emotional tells in. "What happened the other night kind of makes me feel like shit."

Steph's eyes flew open wider.

"I did want it," she said, and fuck, was that empathy in her voice? Or… reassurance? Well, fucking hell, it wasn't like he'd raped her, and she said so.

"Yeah," Jason said, looking back down at Steph, "but you didn't want sex with _me,_ so it's not exactly like you really wanted it."

"Well, it's my own damn fault," Steph said, reaching a shaky hand up to rub at her nose for no reason at all. "I could have been more careful."

"I could have, too, though," Jason said. "Like I didn't have to try to start fingering you right there in the club. I could have left with you first so we could see each other."

"I let you finger me," Steph said. "I wanted you to," she said, and yep, ok, no stopping the red from filling her cheeks this time.

Jason was red, too, though, and still looking miserable as all hell.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Well. I'm sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Look," Steph sighed. "We were both stupid, ok? It's nobody's fault. And according to you, I'm the stupider one out of the two of us, so that makes it way more my fault than yours, so stop beating yourself up about it."

"Fucking hell, Blondie," Jason groaned, and if Steph had thought that he'd looked guilty before, now he looked like he downright hated himself. "I'm sorry I called you stupid," he said, but Steph frowned.

"That's bullshit. You're only sorry because you feel bad about accidentally hooking up with me now. Don't go making insincere apologies about Black Mask. That's cheap," she said.

"Yeah?" Jason said. "Is it as cheap as hating you because seeing you reminds me all the damn time of getting killed?"

"Jason," Steph said weakly, and goddammit, her mouth had better not be trembling because fuck if Steph was gonna cry, absolutely not, no way -

"Please just let me be sorry," Jason said hoarsely.

Steph numbly nodded. Jason pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and turned and fled, leaving Steph standing alone in shock in the Wayne Tower Batbunker with a tumbling swirl of thoughts rushing around in her brain like a shaken snowglobe.

Jason didn't shoot anyone out from under her gooperangs that night. And he even told her to go left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhh sorry not sorry to leave you hanging again! See you tomorrow night with ch. 3!
> 
> Hope you're especially enjoying it, twinnie-in-law!!!!
> 
> Comments are much appreciated, come see me on tumblr, read my other fics, etc etc etc. :) you guys know the drill XD


	3. Then Somebody Bends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another kinda short chapter, but the next one will be longer. Promise!

At the next Batmeeting, Jason showed up with a drink tray full of Pentabux for everyone.

"Dick," he said, handing his older brother a frozen sugarbomb.

"Triple whip?" Dick asked Jason, beaming when Jason grinned and nodded.

"Thanks, Jase," Dick said with surprised pleasure.

Babs echoed his thanks as Jason handed her a drink, taking a tiny sip before smiling with equal delight.

"Habibi," Jason said, plunking a smaller sized cup into Damian's hands.

"What is it?" Damian said suspiciously, taking the lid off to sniff at his drink.

"Chai," Jason said, and - huh. Look at that. Damian was smiling like a real boy for once, with no hidden malice in the upward curve of his lips.

"Thank you, ahki," Damian said politely.

What was it between Jason and Damian? Steph wondered. The two seemed remarkably close given the short amount of time they'd known each other. It was one thing for Jason to be nice to a kid on principle, but the odd thing was that Damian clearly respected Jason, while he made his disdain for the rest of them quite clear.

Steph's wonderings were interrupted by the coffee being nudged into her hand. She raised her eyebrows after tasting it.

"How did you know my drink order?" she asked Jason when he sat down (next to her, which was also unusual, and no, that didn't make her stomach twist uncomfortably at all. Batpoise, Batpoise, Steph was an impassive unruffled mask of indifference.)

"It was in Bruce's files on the Batcomputer," Jason said.

"Not really," Steph said dubiously. "... tell me you're kidding?" she pleaded when no telltale smirk appeared on Jason's face.

"I really wish I was," Jason answered with a wry grin before taking a sip of his own coffee.

"What the fuck?" Steph said. "That's so sad."

Jason hummed in agreement, but Damian frowned.

"Why is it sad that Father kept detailed files on each member of the team?" Damian asked Steph curiously. "Surely that was a necessary and wise precaution."

"Oh," Steph said, looking over at the small boy whose brow was wrinkled in confusion. "Well, it's sad to me because B never used any of his snooping to do anything nice for us. It's not like he ever brought us Pentabux," she said. "I don't think he even gave personalized Christmas gifts," she said. "I mean, he didn't ever give me a gift at all, but…" she looked at Dick and Jason and Babs with questioning eyes.

"When I was a kid, he did," Dick said, fiddling with the edge of his cup lid and keeping his eyes down.

"Me, too," Jason said. "But he changed. I guess we all did," he added after a pause.

Babs made a quietly distressed noise. Steph met her mentor's eyes and saw the shadows of Tim and Cass that haunted her own empty moments. Babs swallowed a sip of her drink before taking a deep breath.

"I think it's wonderful that the five of us are pulling together now," Oracle said in a determinedly glass half-full tone. She gave Jason an especially meaningful look, which he returned with an overdone sigh and a beleaguered, teasing eye roll that made the older woman smile.

" _ **I**_ think it's wonderful that Jason brought us Pentabux," Dick said in a chipper voice, breaking the tension and easing smiles onto Team Batman's faces as they began their meeting.

* * *

A few nights later, Red Hood approached Batgirl after their latest horde of criminals were zip-tied.

"Meet me up top?" he asked her, glancing at the nearest rooftop.

Steph nodded and grappled up after him.

"What's up?" she said as Jason pulled his helmet off and dropped it to the ground.

"So, I really don't want you to take this the wrong way," Jason said hesitantly.

"Ok…" Steph said slowly. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," she smirked. "Go on."

"You're not throwing knees right some of the time," Jason said. "I noticed it once or twice before and wasn't sure if it was an accident or not, but your technique's wrong."

Steph tipped her head to the side.

"How so?" she said.

"You should only knee straight up when you're going for the groin or the head if you have your opponent bent over," Jason said, demonstrating with a sharp upright knee. "The rest of the time, you want to throw it forward towards their spine. Otherwise you're just skimming the surface of their body and not doing any damage."

"Oh," Steph said in surprise. "Show me the right way, then," she said.

Jason hesitated.

"Look, _really_ don't take this the wrong way," he begged.

"Why would I take it the wrong way?" Steph said, her eyebrows going up. "Just show me."

Jason mumbled something unintelligible under his breath before taking his stance.

"So, uh," he said, looking anywhere but at Steph, "you have to use your hips to throw it forward," he said.

Oh.

Yep.

Steph was definitely taking Jason's demonstration the very, very wrong way.

Yeah.

"Do you want to try it?" Jason said, looking over Steph's shoulder instead of at her face.

"Yeah," Steph said, clearing her throat. "Yeah, I'd better," she said. "Um. Ok," she said, slowly dropping into her stance.

Because this wasn't awkward at all. Nope. She was B's one-time protegée. She could do this. Batface, Batface, scowly eyebrows of concentration, not lust.

"It starts the same," Jason said helpfully. "Heel to your butt."

"Ok," Steph said, bending her leg to lock her kneecap.

"Crouch a little lower as you do it, though," Jason said, "because you have to - well, um - thrust," he muttered miserably.

Steph started again, and disjointedly tried to thrust and throw while blanketed with prickly needles of embarrassment and - yeah, no. Embarrassment. That was all it was. Totally. Nothing else going on in her body at all, nope.

"You, uh, have to use the power of the hip motion to throw the knee," Jason said, looking up into the smog covered, light polluted night sky. "It's not two separate motions."

"Can you show me one more time?" Steph said and no, she did not just say that. Fuck.

Jason's eyes dropped down to hers for a dangerously long moment.

"Sure," he said slowly.

And it really should not have been a chore for Steph to pull her gaze from Jason's eyes to his hips as he demonstrated, but it actually was, because Jason wasn't breaking eye contact with her and fuck that was hot and ohmigod, ok, just focus on the hip action Steph - the hip action, God, why was it so fucking hot on this roof - and Steph did not mean to lick her lips.

There was no reason to lick her damn lips. Stop it, Steph. Stop it. Concentrate. Think nullifying thoughts.

Batman.

Batmanbatmanbatman.

"You ready to try it again?" Jason said.

Was his voice getting husky? His voice had better not be getting low and sexy. It was her imagination. All in her head.

Steph nodded, crouching as she bent her leg back and snapped her hips forward, launching her knee straight ahead.

"Good!" Jason said. "That was good," he said. "Try the other side?"

Steph switched legs, feeling Jason's eyes on her the whole time. Not that he had much choice if he wanted to make sure she was doing it right, she reminded herself somewhat reluctantly.

"That's good," Jason said as Steph completed the move. "Real good," he mumbled. "So, uh, yeah," he said, starting to bend down for his helmet. "You should work on that."

"Ok," Steph said. "Should I try it in some spars?" she asked without engaging her brain.

"Yeah," Jason answered her. "That's a good idea. Get Dick to practice with you on it," he said as he turned and grappled off.

"Ohh-kay," Steph said to the departing Red Hood and her stupidass hormones and the sudden solitude of the roof. "Right. Good idea, Steph," she mumbled. "How smart you are."

* * *

Dick was of course happy to work with Steph on her technique, but Batgirl had to pretend way too hard that the little squirmy flame of warmth that flared to life in her belly a few weeks later was pride and nothing more when Red Hood gave her a thumbs up after a fight and said "Nice kneework, Blondie."

It didn't help at all that Jason was being downright nice to her, now, making small talk at Batmeetings (where he kept sitting next to her) (which meant nothing) and even smiling at her on a regular basis, and way more frequently than he smiled at even Damian (not that Steph was counting smiles, or anything, and recording them in a Batlog like Bruce the Weirdo.)

Because it wasn't like Steph wanted to date Jason, because that would be outlandishly ridiculous, because he wasn't interested in her like that. He was torn up about what had happened at the club and felt guilty and he was being nice to make up for it, and that was it. Steph was sure.

Ninety-two percent sure.

But that damn eight percent was making her a hot and bothered mess whenever Jason was around and it was getting harder and harder to Batmask. Jason had definitely given Steph one or two odd looks recently. That, she was a hundred percent sure of. What the looks meant though? Steph didn't have a clue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you might recognize Pentabux Coffee (coughs, what chain might that be parodying.... lol) from my other JaySteph story "Pumpkin Spice and Batgirl's Nice, but Red Hood's Full of Grumpy." LOL. Obvs that story takes place in a different AU, but.... hehehe it's now my go-to Gotham coffee headcanon. 
> 
> Thanks again for reading! New chapter posts tomorrow night!


	4. There's Something Sweet and Almost Kind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, a slightly longer chapter! Squee!

Steph and Damian were about to leave when the penthouse locks clicked right in front of them and the door swung open to reveal Jason.

"Oh! Hi, Steph," Jason said, taken aback. "What are you doing here? Hi, little D," he added as Steph and Damian stepped aside to let him in.

"Stephanie insists that I must learn how to roller-skate," Damian sighed dramatically.

"It's an absolutely mandatory part of your childhood," Steph nodded at him.

"Save me, ahki," Damian begged.

Jason smiled.

"Nah, I think Steph is right," he said, before looking thoughtfully at the woman in question. "Roller skating is a must."

Steph felt a flush threatening to stain her cheeks, because Jason's eyes were soft and sweeping over her face like he was seeing something that he hadn't noticed before, and it definitely did not give her a lovely squiggle in her tummy that made her drop her eyes and turn her head aside. Fortunately, Damian groaned and flailed to the floor, making Steph giggle and distracting Jason.

"What are _you_ doing here, Jase?" Steph said, keeping her eyes on Damian. "Dick's working today."

"Yeah, I know," Jason said. "I thought Damian might need some company since he had a half-day at school."

Now it was Steph's turn to look at Jason, because he knew Damian's school schedule? And had come over specifically to hang out with his little brother? That was… awfully nice, she couldn't help but admit. And not the slightest bit attractive.

"Yes, thank you, ahki," Damian was saying from the floor. "I much prefer your company to roller-skating. You may leave, Stephanie."

"Nope, sorry, kiddo," Jason laughed. "Steph called dibs. I'm gonna leave you to it."

"Come with us," Steph burst out.

Jason paused and met her eyes.

"...yeah?" he said hesitantly. "You sure?"

"Yeah," Steph said, fighting a smile that wanted to be too large. "It might take two of us to haul Damian around the rink."

Damian gasped and jumped to his feet.

"How dare you, Stephanie Brown!" he exclaimed. "As if I shall not master the art of roller-skating faster than any child in the history of the universe!"

"Yeah, I'd better come," Jason said somberly, easily blocking Damian's enraged tornado of sudden attacks with one hand and a laugh. "Come on, habibi," he said after a minute, pushing a teasing but scolding hand through his little brother's hair. "Stop. Let's go."

"Very well, ahki," Damian sighed, stopping his shenanigans immediately, and when did Damian al Ghul Wayne ever listen to anyone without arguing or sassing or fighting them about it?

Steph stared at Jason in wonder as they walked to the elevator.

"What?" Jason said, noticing her curious look.

"What is it with you two?" Steph said, looking between them. "Why do you get along so much better with Jason than the rest of us?" she asked Damian.

"Obviously, it is because Jason is superior to you in every way," Damian sniffed, making Steph glare and put a hand on her hip.

Jason chuckled.

"I've known this little sucker since he was a toddler," Jason said. "We were in the League together, you know."

Steph raised her eyebrows.

"I did not know," she said, thinking over dates and ages and years in her head. "I never really thought about the timing before," she said.

And there was another question on the tip of her tongue, but fuck it, she didn't want to know - but suspecting the worst also kind of sucked, and -

"You're wondering why I left him there," Jason said as they got into the elevator.

Well, there was no stopping that blush. There it was, but, yes. That was what Steph had been wondering.

"I was pretty much a zombie at first until Talia dunked me in the Pit," Jason said, one hand straying to Damian's hair with a tenderness that put a lump in Steph's throat, especially when Damian moved half a step closer to Jason instead of slapping his hand away.

"And when I came out, I was so full of Pit madness that Talia sent me off to train with different teachers away from the League," Jason said. "For several years, actually, and when I came back to the League, Damian was so inculcated that he wouldn't leave with me. I might've been able to get us both out if he was willing to come, but…"

"I am the heir to the Demon's Head," Damian said, but his words rang far more hollow than they had when he'd first arrived in Gotham, dumped on a shocked Bruce by Talia with the command to finish their son's training as only Batman could.

"I had a duty to stay with my mother and grandfather," Damian insisted, but to Steph's ears there was a tiny plea for understanding in his words.

"I know, habibi," Jason said gently, bending down to press a kiss to the top of his head. "And I respected that," he said. "Didn't I?"

"Yes, ahki," Damian said, but he allowed Jason to pull him against his side in a cuddle.

Steph blinked and glanced away, because she wasn't crying. Definitely not.

"You, uh," she said, clearing her throat, "you didn't think to tell B about him?" she asked Jason, staring at their distorted reflections in the chrome of the elevator panel.

"What was he gonna do?" Jason said practically. "Yank little D from where he was determined to be and try to force new brainwashing down his throat? Talia was always planning to send him to Bruce," Jason shrugged. "I figured it was better to wait. He's here now, isn't he?" Jason said, and there was that same note of defensive yearning in his voice that had laced Damian's.

"Yeah," Steph said gently, turning back to look up at Jason. "Yeah. He's here now," she said. "And he has you," she added with a soft smile.

"He has all of us," Jason corrected, but the tension around his eyes smoothed out. "We're taking one of Dick's cars?" he said when the elevator doors opened to the private level of Wayne Tower's underground parking garage.

"Yeah," Steph said, pulling the keys out of her pocket. "The Honda."

"I'll drive," Jason said, reaching for the keys, but Steph snatched them back.

"Hell, no," she said. "I'm driving."

"Blondie, come on," Jason sighed. "Gimme the keys. I want to drive."

"Why?" Steph countered. "Because I'm a girl? Or because you don't trust my driving?"

"Because I get panic attacks riding as a passenger," Jason said a little shortly.

"Oh," Steph mouthed quietly. "Sorry," she whispered. "Here," she said, handing him the keys and feeling like shit.

"Thank you," Jason muttered, but he reached out and squeezed her shoulder and maybe that made her feel a tiny bit better. "Where are we going?" Jason said as Steph forced Damian into the backseat ('airbags and height requirements, mister'). "Roller World?"

"Yeah," Steph said, opening her eyes wider as a slow smile stretched across her face. "How'd you know?"

Jason snorted.

"I lived there, too, as a kid," he said. "Best babysitter in the Narrows."

"That's true," Steph agreed, thinking back to long afternoons spent skating at the dirt cheap rink that was always packed to the gills with after-school kids whose parents couldn't afford daycare but could scrape together enough for the low-cost monthly pass with skate rental included, and with pizza at only dollar a slice, most kids could beg, borrow, or steal enough change to put something in their stomachs at least a few nights a week.

The rumors that the pizza ovens were used overnight for drying pot were probably true, but it undoubtedly helped keep the rink in business and the rink kept a lot of kids safer than they otherwise would have been, if only for several hours a day, but that was a lot of time to a Narrows kid, and Steph had always gotten the feeling that even the worst parents appreciated the roller rink as much as their kids did. Her dad hadn't been one for spending money on extras, but even he'd given her a new skate pass every month.

"Do you two hang out a lot?" Jason asked Steph and Damian curiously as he drove them uptown, away from the Diamond District.

"Unfortunately," Damian grumbled, making Steph laugh, but Jason was looking at her thoughtfully again, with something almost tender in his gaze.

"That's really nice of you," he said to Steph quietly.

"It is not," Damian countered. "Do not encourage her, ahki."

Steph totally pretended that her little smile was because of Damian and not because of how warm Jason's eyes were, or because of how jittery he suddenly made her feel.

* * *

Damian was growling under his breath with a ferocious look of concentration on his face while Steph and Jason held him up on the tattered carpet of the seating area bordering the rink, one on each hand.

"Easy, habibi," Jason said. "Just try to hold still and crouch down to center your gravity."

"The wheels keep slipping!" Damian scowled, sliding all over the place while Steph and Jason kept him from falling.

"Move your feet a little bit when they slip to regain your balance," Steph said. "Like we're doing to hold you up," she added with a grin, because she and Jason were both in skates, too, and easily balancing in place while hanging onto an unsteady Damian.

Damian frowned harder but started trying to move in tandem with his feet instead of at their mercy.

"Keep your fighting stance," Jason coached him. "Stay low."

"I bet learning to roller skate will make you a much better fighter, Damian," Steph added on a sudden inspiration.

"Oh, totally!" Jason said. "We should take you to a roller derby match one night," he grinned suddenly, looking over at Steph. "Teach you to appreciate the depths of violence that skating can be used for."

Steph snorted but Damian perked up.

"There is a fighting form that utilizes roller skating?" he asked.

"It's technically a sport, but, yeah. It's basically a brawl on wheels," Jason said. "You'll love it."

"Hm," Damian said, still slip-sliding in between them, but with slightly more grace. "Perhaps roller skating is not so worthless an endeavor after all," he magnanimously conceded.

"What do you say, Steph?" Jason asked her, looking over Damian's head and catching her eye. "You want to take him to the Tuesday night match with me?"

Steph's brain stuttered to a halt. It wasn't a date, she told herself stupidly as she tried to reboot her common sense. It was for Damian. Hell, it was _with_ Damian.

"Sure," she heard herself saying. "Tuesdays are usually slow, and we can always leave early if Dick needs something," she said.

"Great," Jason said cheerfully, and yeah. That was totally friendly. _Friendly_ , Steph, friendly, she told herself, and there was no reason to feel dejected about it; none at all.

"What do you say, habibi? Sound good?" Jason asked.

"Of course," Damian said distractedly, now balancing fairly well and not tugging wildly anymore on Steph or Jason's hands to keep from falling. "How do I maneuver on these contraptions?" he asked.

* * *

Damian had graduated to the point of only loosely holding Jason and Steph's hands as they circled the actual rink, and Steph had the suspicion that he probably could have let go entirely but was secretly enjoying the affection, when the current song ended and the DJ lit up the Couples' Skate icon on the lightboard.

The swarm of mostly children groaned and slowly moved off the rink, hurried along by the rink referees, while a lot of the teenagers quickly paired up, joining hands, to keep on skating. Steph was smiling at the inevitably bashful asks-and-answers of a few pairs of teens close to where they were depositing Damian on a chair to wait out the song, when Jason extended a hand to her.

"Want to skate with me?" he said.

Shit.

Steph was not supposed to be one of those tongue-tied, blushing girls anymore, but here she was, and holy crap, were Jason's eyes quietly intense as he looked at her, obviously trying to play it cool, but unable to completely mask the little spark of hopefulness that was lighting up his face.

"Yeah," Steph said, swallowing. "Sure."

She reached out to take Jason's hand, and oh, it was as lovely and warm and rough and calloused and muscular as she remembered, and fuuuuuck, Steph was so screwed, she was so screwed, but Jason was pulling her onto the rink with a smile and God, it was such a _nice_ smile, one that looked actually sincere, and Steph was smiling back at him and then they were gliding around the rink to 'Hungry Eyes.'

"I love this song," Steph said with a giggle. "They used to play it all the time back in the day, remember?" she said and Jason laughed and nodded.

"I haven't seen Dirty Dancing in forever," he said, and this was good. This was nice. They were talking, and getting along, and the little bubbles inside of Steph weren't lifting her up off the rink and giving her away, so everything was good.

"It's one of my favorite movies of all time," Steph said, and Jason smiled at her.

"Mine, too," he said.

"Really?" Steph said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, really," Jason said. "What? You don't think a badass like me can like chick flicks?" he teased.

"I never really thought about it," Steph said, and oh, maybe that was the wrong thing to say, because Jason's light seemed to fade a little bit. "What other movies do you like?" Steph said, and that was better, because Jason was perking up again and telling her about different Jane Austen movies, and some Shakespeare ones he'd liked, and wow, he kind of had a lot more depth than Steph had given him credit for.

It kind of made her wish the song was longer.

And maybe the feeling was mutual, because right before the last chorus Jason looked down at her.

"Can I take you out to dinner tomorrow night?" he said.

Steph's fingers squeezed his hand tighter all on their own, she swore. Her brain was in no way, shape, or form involved.

"Like on a date?" Steph said as Jason's fingers squeezed back and his smile got a little brighter.

"Yes. A date," Jason said, and maybe his eyes were looking a little hungry themselves.

And who was Steph kidding? Her eyes practically had a knife and fork out.

"I'd like that," Steph said.

"Good. Me, too," said Jason, and fuck, Steph did not want to be led off the rink to an impatiently waiting Damian, but Jason kept giving her little smiles over Damian's head for the rest of the afternoon as they skated, and Steph was totally returning them.

When they got back to the penthouse, full of cheap pizza and soda and with a triple-foil-wrapped whole pizza for Dick that was still sort of hot, Jason waited to walk out with her after Dick hugged and thanked them both before they begged off to get a little rest before patrol.

"You want a ride home?" Jason asked Steph in the not-quite-awkward silence as they took the elevator back down to the parking garage.

"Well, my scooter's here," Steph said half-heartedly, because yeah, she kind of did want a ride home on the back of Jason's bike, but she couldn't abandon her only means of transportation.

"Ok," Jason said easily. "I'll see you tomorrow night, then, I guess?" he said. "If I don't see you later on patrol first," he grinned, and Steph smiled back. "I'll pick you up at seven?" Jason said and Steph nodded.

"I'll borrow one of Bruce's cars so you don't have to worry about your hair or what you wear or anything," Jason said, and that was so fucking thoughtful that Steph couldn't help leaning into his arm a little bit.

"Thanks, Jase," she said.

Jason's eyes sparkled as he bent down to kiss her cheek.

"See ya soon, Blondie," he said before riding off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points if you know what the chapter title is from ;) and especially what line comes next cuz oh how it sums up Jason LOL 
> 
> Thanks for continuing to read! A new chapter is coming again tomorrow! Hope you're especially still enjoying it, twinnie-in-law!!!


	5. New And A Bit Alarming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the new chapter, readers, and especially you, dear twinnie-in-law!

As it happened, it was a quiet night on patrol, so Steph didn't see Jason again until he was knocking at her apartment door the following evening for their date. She tried to quiet the nervous butterflies in her stomach, smoothing her skirt one last time and taking a deep breath before unlocking and opening the door.

"Wow!" Steph blurted out before even saying hello. "You look amazing," she said, because there was Jason Todd in a fitted red vest over a black button-up, with tight black pants, and ohmigod, he was holding a bouquet of purple tulips in his hands.

And… smiling at her, deep and sexy, and oh, fuck, Steph was remembering their night at the club way too vividly and her tummy was doing flips, and maybe her pussy, too.

"You look great, too," Jason said, offering the flowers as Steph finally realized that she should step to the side and let him in.

"Thanks," Steph smiled, for once not minding the warm flush on her cheeks. She'd gone with a simple black skirt and a low-cut eggplant blouse, aiming for the middle as far as dressiness since she wasn't sure where Jason was taking her, but her skirt hugged her curves and her boobs looked good and the way that Jason was eyeing her made her feel warm all over, in the best way possible.

"Thanks for the flowers," Steph said softly, fingering a tulip petal. No one had ever brought her flowers on a date before, not that Steph was going to admit that to Jason, but - yeah.

Her dating life had consisted of her older, asshole baby daddy, Tim (and that was a bucket of teenage drama and nonsense), and, more recently, random one-night stands. Because it was fucking hard to date for real as a vigilante, and Steph couldn't stomach putting someone through the secrets and walls that had stymied her and Tim's relationship.

So, random sex it was when she got the itch, but it was doing something funny to her insides to be on the receiving end of flowers. Purple flowers, too.

"Do you have a vase?" Jason asked her. "I can put them in water for you."

"Um, top cabinet, over the fridge," Steph said. Jason caught her smile when he turned back from easily retrieving the vase.

"Pays to be tall," he grinned at her.

"Yeah," Steph smiled. "I keep it up there specifically because I hardly ever use it and that cabinet is a pain in the ass for me to get to."

Jason hummed thoughtfully as he filled the vase up with water.

"I have a feeling you might be needing your flower vase a lot more often in the future," he said oh so casually before turning to set the vase on the counter and taking the bouquet back from Steph.

"You think so?" Steph said in a slightly breathy voice that only just barely shook.

"I think it's a very distinct possibility," Jason said with a straight face but twinkling eyes, and no, it wasn't hard to breathe. Uh uh. Nope. Steph wasn't smiling and turning her face into her shoulder for any reason in particular.

"You ready to go?" Jason asked her once he had the flowers arranged.

Steph nodded and couldn't keep her smile from growing when Jason took her hand to lead her out of the apartment, even though he had to drop it only a few steps later to let her lock her door. But then his hand was on her low back, soft but protective, as they went down the four flights of stairs, and Steph felt like she was almost floating by the time they reached the bottom.

Especially when Jason opened the door of the 1965 Shelby Cobra for her and helped her in.

"You picked a good car to take," Steph said when Jason was inside. "It's gorgeous."

"Yeah, I thought so," Jason smiled at her. "I love all the curves," he said a little too innocently.

Steph snorted.

"Is that right?" she said.

"Mm-hm," Jason said, as he pulled out into traffic. "Reminded me of somebody," he said, slyly sliding his eyes sideways.

Steph scoffed, but yeah, her cheeks were heating up a little more. And… she was kind of ok with that.

"Is Italian ok?" Jason asked her.

"Totally," Steph said with a grin. "It's hard to go wrong with pasta."

"Right?" Jason laughed. "Well, I made a reservation at Lucky Luciano's but I would've been happy to take you somewhere else if you were some kind of freak of nature who didn't like carbs."

Steph laughed but something caught at her attention.

"Lucky Luciano's in the Diamond District?" she said hesitantly.

"Yeah," Jason said, turning to glance at her as he drove. "Is that ok? We can go somewhere else if you want."

"It's fine," Steph said, feeling flustered. "I mean, it's more than fine. It's - it's a five-star restaurant, Jason," she said.

"I know," he said, looking at Steph like he was trying to solve a problem. Steph bit her lip.

"You don't have to take me there," she said softly.

Jason raised his eyebrows.

"I know I don't have to take you there, babe," he said. "I want to." Jason reached his right hand over from the gear shift to stroke a finger along Steph's knuckles. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

Steph looked down at her hands.

"Are you taking me there because you feel guilty?" she said quietly.

"Fuck!" Jason said, abruptly gripping her hand tight. Steph's eyes shot up to his. "No!" Jason said. "Babe - Blondie - I just want to take you somewhere nice. It has nothing to do with - whatever."

"Ok," Steph mumbled.

"Please say you believe me," Jason begged.

Steph looked Jason over and saw not only hints of desperation in his eyes, but something else that made her feel too shy to keep searching his face.

"I will," she answered him. "I do, if you say so. I just - it's so nice, and it's just me -"

"Babe, you are not _just you_ ," Jason said, and yeah, Steph definitely didn't want to keep looking into his eyes, and she had never been so glad that he had to turn back to watching the traffic.

"I like you, ok?" Jason said softly after a few minutes of silence. "And God knows we ought to enjoy B's money and spend it on something other than Batman," he added, and that made Steph giggle, and then Jason was smiling with her, and the atmosphere felt sort of ok again.

If sort of ok included knots of tension in Steph's stomach that were definitely not the unpleasant sort.

* * *

"How'd you get reservations here on such short notice?" Steph asked Jason curiously when they were seated at an intimate candlelit table for two, in the midst of a completely full dining room, sipping on wine and mulling over the menu.

Jason coughed and looked slightly guilty, or maybe mischievous. Steph gently nudged his leg under the table.

"I know you couldn't have used B's name, since you're still legally dead," she said.

"Yeah, uh," Jason hedged, looking upwards with twinkling eyes before dropping his gaze back to Steph's and slowly sliding the tip of his shoe along her calf underneath the cover of the tablecloth. Which didn't make Steph shiver. Not at all.

"I have some connections. From my night job," Jason said.

"Jason!" Steph hissed in a giggle. "Ohmygod," she said, burying her laughter behind a well-placed hand.

"What?" Jason said innocently. "It's good for mafia bosses to do something virtuous once in awhile. Keeps them in touch with their humanity."

"I'm not sure bumping someone off the list to get us a dinner reservation counts as virtuous," Steph teased.

"Hey, nobody got bumped," Jason protested. "At least, not in a permanent way," he amended with a grin, making Steph laugh some more, and this felt so good, here with Jason. It was easy and fun and his foot was still doing sexy things to her leg, and Steph couldn't stop smiling.

Jason peppered Steph with questions about her favorite movies and tv shows until they placed their dinner orders and a comfortable silence fell. He reached out after a minute and took her hand in his, caressing the back of it with his thumb.

"I really appreciate you spending so much time with Damian," Jason said. "I know how messed up he is and how difficult he can be, and you're not even related to him."

Steph was quiet for a minute, looking down at their hands, before finally lifting her eyes back up.

"I had a baby," she said. "When I was fifteen. Did you know that?"

"It was in your file," Jason mumbled, looking a little embarrassed. "But I hadn't known before I went looking for your drink order, no."

Steph's expression grew bittersweet and a little wistful.

"I tried to pick the best parents I could for my baby," she said, taking a deep breath. "But there aren't any guarantees, you know?" she said. "And I don't know - maybe won't ever know, unless she comes looking for me one day years from now - if they took good care of her. Her life is at the mercy of the kindness of strangers, people I've never met."

"Damian," Steph said slowly, "that's all he has, too. When Talia dumped him here - and I'm glad she did, so glad -"

"Me, too," Jason murmured and Steph nodded.

"But he's just a kid, and he was left all alone with people he didn't know, and he could probably survive better on his own than most adults could, but emotionally? He needs so much," Steph said softly. "I want to give him what I hope my baby is getting."

Jason blinked and rubbed at his eyes with his free hand.

"Fuck, you're a good person," he said roughly, squeezing Steph's fingers tighter.

"So are you," Steph said, but Jason shook his head.

"I don't know," he said. "I felt like shit leaving D with Talia when I came back to Gotham. It seemed like the only feasible choice, but…"

"It worked out," Steph said softly. "Like you said, he's here now, and he's here and open to us. If you or B had tried to drag him out, he would have fought us every second of every day."

"Yeah," Jason muttered. "Maybe."

"You did the best for him that you could," Steph insisted. "And you're doing so much for him now. I was really surprised you know his schedule and come to see him so much."

"He's my brother," Jason shrugged. "He needs me."

The blossom of warmth that statement made bloom in Steph's chest burst out onto her face in a sunny smile, and when Jason saw it, he reddened.

"Geez, Blondie, you're gonna scorch me with that sunshine," he teased.

"I can't help it if you're an amazing person," Steph smiled back at him, making Jason's face go incredibly soft before he pulled her hand to his mouth to kiss her knuckles.

"Dick's the real superhero, though," Jason said after a tender minute of featherlight kisses. "I offered to take little D when B bit it, but Dick wanted him more."

"Really?" Steph said, her face lighting up again. "You would have taken him?"

"Of course," Jason said, looking surprised. "Hell, I already half-raised him when he was a kid. And I know you've noticed that he doesn't give me shit the same way he does the rest of you," he laughed. "God, Dickie's having a much worse time of it than I ever would have had with him."

"Why'd he want him, then?" Steph said.

Jason chuckled.

"I dunno, B must have rubbed off on him too much. Dickie saw a traumatized orphan and couldn't resist. He got that same damn gleam in his eye that B got when he adopted me," Jason said, pausing to reluctantly let Steph's hand go when their food arrived.

Steph let out a little whimper upon taking her first bite of eggplant parmesan.

"Oh, my God," she whispered to Jason. "Holy crap. This is fucking amazing."

Jason beamed.

"Way better than the Olive Garden, right?" he said, looking proud and pleased.

"So much better," Steph said. "Thank you, Jase. Seriously. You didn't have to do all this for me."

"I wanted to," Jason said, and there was something shining out of his eyes that put a lump in Steph's throat and made her cheeks burn. Jason's foot found Steph's leg again under the table, and she ducked her head and smiled and vowed not to let her butterflies interfere with her appetite, because her dinner was truly fucking incredible, but the way that Jason was making her feel was even more so.

* * *

"So…" Steph said at the end of the evening, turning back to Jason after she'd unlocked her apartment door. "Do you want to come in?"

Her hands were already gliding along Jason's sides, fully expecting to pull him from a kiss into her apartment, when Jason stepped closer.

"Oh, I definitely _want_ to come in," Jason said in a husky voice as his lips found Steph's ear and brushed a kiss along the outer edge, "but I'm gonna wait until you ask me a little prettier."

Steph's face, turning in shock to look at Jason, met his lips with her cheek, where he pressed a gentle kiss.

"Night, Blondie," Jason said softly, before pulling away and heading back down the stairs.

Steph stared after him, mouth hanging open and brain refusing to process what had just happened. Jason paused on the first landing and met her eyes, giving her a little smirk and a wink before continuing on his way.

"What the hell?" Steph whispered to her raging libido that had very much been looking forward to getting laid tonight.

When she finally turned to go into her apartment, Steph could not explain to herself why her heart was beating faster than it had been minutes earlier when she'd been on the brink of pulling Jason through the door and ripping his clothes off.

And if Steph spent most of the night lying awake, it was surely only due to her confusion at Jason's odd behavior and it had nothing at all to do with the way that her brain wouldn't stop replaying and lingering over delicious moments from their date.

Like how warm Jason's eyes were whenever he looked at her. Or the feel of his fingertip brushing over her hand. Or his genuine interest in her studies at Gotham U. Or the way that the corner of his mouth crinkled every time that he smiled. Or how damn happy he'd been at dinner, so happy that Steph could feel it glowing out of him even during a lull in their conversation, or sitting at a traffic light on their way home, or holding her hand walking her up the stairs to her apartment.

Yeah, the weird swirly smiles on Steph's face and in her tummy had absolutely nothing to do with her sleeplessness. She was just confused and horny. That was all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BWAHAHAHAHA did Jason's tease disappoint you, dear readers, as much as Steph? LOL SoRry Not SorRY lolol...
> 
> Your evil author will be back tomorrow night with the next chapter :)
> 
> Comments are much appreciated! Unless they're cussing me out for the tease LOL


	6. It's So Peculiar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I rename all the chapter titles with song lyrics from twinnie and twinnie-in-law's favorite movie? Yes. Yes I Did.

Steph almost dropped her phone when it started ringing the next afternoon, because how long had it been since she'd gotten an actual phone call?

And it was… Jason?

"Hello?" Steph said curiously into the phone.

"Hey, Steph," Jason's voice came back, deep and rich and - "is it a bad time to talk?"

"No, it's fine," Steph said, still feeling confused. "What's up?"

"I was just thinking about you," Jason said, "and I wanted to tell you what a good time I had last night."

"Oh," Steph said, and yeah, that was her voice sounding all soft and wondrous. "Wow. Yeah. Um, me, too. A really good time."

"Yeah?" Jason said, and there was his happiness singing out again, even over the phone, and it made Steph curl her legs up to her chest and grin all big and goofy into her arm.

"Yeah," Steph said softly when she could control her voice. "Thank you," she said. "So much, Jase. I mean, dinner was over and beyond, but, like, you got me flowers, too?"

"You liked the flowers as much as dinner?" Jason said.

"Oh," Steph said, feeling a little embarrassed. "I mean … am I gonna sound ungrateful if I say yes?"

"No," Jason said, "I love that you liked the flowers so much." And his voice was so fucking gentle and tender and even sounded flattered so Steph found her resolve melting.

"Nobody's ever bought me flowers before," she admitted, fingering the fringes on the purple blanket that she had wrapped around her on the couch.

"Aw, Steph," Jason said, and God she could hear his smile. "Does it make me a selfish asshole if I'm a little bit glad I'm the first?"

Steph giggled.

"I mean, I've got no complaints about it," she said.

"You're the first girl I've ever bought them for, too," Jason said, and oh fuck, that was not Steph's heart that just swooned off a forty-story building and if it made a little happy sound on the way down that Jason apparently heard, based on his answering echo, well, swan diving had funny effects on the body and Steph could not be blamed for them.

"Can I take you out again next week?" Jason said.

"I'd love that," Steph said, as stupider and stupider smiles painted their way across her face.

"Me, too," Jason said. "And don't forget we've got roller derby with little D on Tuesday."

"Yeah, I'm excited about that," Steph grinned. "Although I think we're gonna create a monster."

"Well, last time I checked, there aren't any pee-wee roller derby teams," Jason laughed.

"I can't see that stopping Damian from finding a way to start one," Steph said.

"Babe, I would pay good money to see Dami beat the snot out of all the polo playing rich kids at his school if he could con them into forming a league. Oh, my God, that would be priceless," Jason laughed.

Steph laughed, too, and then they were joking about rich assholes and what Narrows kids did for fun instead of lacrosse and horseback riding, and Jason was telling her what books he liked to read and Steph was admitting to an addiction to reading online advice columns, and Steph didn't even realize how long they'd been on the phone until a huge yawn overtook her.

"God, sorry," Steph said. "I should probably take a nap before patrol."

"Yeah? Did you have trouble sleeping last night?" Jason asked with a little too much curiosity.

Steph paused. For too long, apparently.

"Stephie…?" Jason's voice was not only teasing, but knowing, now, and Steph did not mean to blush as hard as she did.

"Shut up," she scoffed in embarrassment. "I did not."

"Uh huh," Jason said. "Anything in particular keeping you awake? Or anyone?"

"Nothing at all," Steph said. "Nope. Slept like a baby. I'm just a hard-working college student who needs a lot of naps."

"Mm, is that so?" Jason said, and fuck his voice was sexy and maybe Steph's fingers were creeping under the waistband of her yoga pants.

"How did _you_ sleep?" Steph asked him, toying with the outer edge of her folds.

"Oh, I couldn't get this sexy blonde out of my head," Jason said. "Kept me up for hours."

"Is that right?" Steph said, and no, she wasn't smiling. Uh uh.

"Yep," said Jason. "I kept tossing and turning, because I don't care how good Jolene looked, there is no fucking way she could hold a candle to Dolly Parton and the whole world damn well knows it, so explain to me how Jolene could steal her man. That's nonsensical."

"Jason!" Steph yelped in delight, dissolving into giggles.

Jason snickered on the other end of the phone.

"Seriously, get some sleep, babe," he said. "I want you to stay safe out there tonight."

"You, too," Steph said. "Mr. Insomniac."

"Well, I know who I'm gonna be dreaming of," Jason said.

"It better not be Dolly Parton," Steph answered.

"Oh, my God, babe," Jason said, suddenly serious. "You're Jolene. Fuck. Dolly _wouldn't_ stand a chance. I take it all back."

And that was too fucking sweet for Steph to bear, so she cleared her throat and said, "Well, maybe, except I'm not a man-thief."

"Bullshit," Jason said. "You're totally stealing my heart."

Steph groaned, but when she was off the phone with Jason and drifting off to sleep, burrowed under her blanket on the couch, she couldn't help but think that Jason had sounded oddly sincere.

* * *

Red Hood's helmet hid any smile that might have appeared on his face when Batgirl came to join him later that night on an Oracle-appointed asskicking, but he was more active on the comms than he'd ever been, calling out targets and orders and making sure they were working in sync.

When the last perp was zip-tied, Red Hood's hands squeezed Batgirl's waist from behind.

"Hang on," he said, wrapping an arm more tightly around her before shooting his grapple up and landing them on a nearby roof.

"Hood?" Steph said curiously as Jason pulled his helmet off and tossed it aside, but then his gloved hands were gripping her face and he was kissing her - oh, God, Jason was kissing her hard and deep and making her breathless, and Steph was left blinking in a daze when Jason abruptly let her go, grabbing his helmet and replacing it on his head as he jogged towards the roof edge, turning back at the last second to look at Steph over his shoulder before he grappled off into the night.

The little whimper that slipped out of Batgirl's throat was two parts need and one part bliss.

* * *

"You look happy," Babs commented with a smile when Steph entered the Batbunker the next evening for their team meeting.

"Yeah, um, I started dating someone," Steph said.

Across the room, Damian turned his head to look at her.

"Oh, that's great!" Babs said warmly.

Dick gave Steph a cautious look.

"It's hard to make things work with civilians," he said gently. "Our night routine tends to interfere sooner rather than later," he said, and he was still enough Dick instead of Batman to not openly remind her that secret identities needed to stay secret, no matter how much you liked someone, but Damian was outright scoffing beside him.

"Stephanie is not dating a civilian," he said.

Dick's face got confused, but before he could say anything, Jason was coming into the bunker with a tray full of Pentabux again.

Babs stared at him, only to be handed her coffee, with the bonus of a kiss to the top of her head.

"Jason," Babs said slowly.

"Hiya, Babs," he answered as he crossed the room to hand drinks to Damian and Dick, who was now glancing between Jason and Steph before giving Babs a thoughtful look.

"Hey, babe," Jason said with a smile when he handed Steph her drink, and yeah, she did turn a little red when Jason planted a kiss on her cheek, but that didn't stop her from smiling back up into eyes that looked so damn happy to see her.

"Hi, yourself," Steph said back.

They hadn't talked about telling the rest of the Bats or not, but as Steph got seated next to Jason, she realized that she kind of loved that Jason didn't feel the need to hide from Dick and Babs' potential judgment.

Damian was tittering to himself over his chai as Dick ran a slightly sheepish hand over his jaw.

"I guess you're not dating a civilian, huh," he said.

"Nope," Steph grinned.

Babs was looking Steph and Jason over, and apparently seemed satisfied, because she gave Dick a reassuring smile before saying, "I'm glad to see you two worked out your differences."

Jason snorted but didn't comment. But he totally pulled Steph back to let everyone else leave first at the end of the meeting so he could kiss her again, a little sweeter and needier than last night, but just as maddeningly brief.

"I'll see you Tuesday?" Jason said as he pulled away. "For Roller Derby?"

"Yeah," Steph said, looking up at him longingly.

Jason grinned and planted one more quick kiss on her lips, but then he was gone, leaving Steph behind as a melted puddle of giddy feelings that could hardly propel her feet to the door.

So she really couldn't be blamed for sliding down against the wall, instead, and taking half an hour to daydream wispy, rosy cotton candy clouds in the air about the way a relationship she had thought would be mostly about sex was suddenly spinning her to a different destination entirely - or how unbelievably nervously excited it made her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh a short chapter, I know! But hopefully still with some tantalizing goodness! (key word: TANTALIZING) 
> 
> I think the next chapter is a little longer, though, and the last two are both much longer, so there's that. 
> 
> See you tomorrow night, dear Bat readers! Relatively same-ish Bat-time, same Bat-channel!


	7. I Thought I Saw ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy, dear readers and dear twinnie-in-law!!

Damian was seated in between Jason and Steph at the Roller Derby match, screaming enthusiastically at the competitors with the scornful commentary that only a ten-year old who knew infinitely better could make, when Jason looked over Damian's head and caught Steph's eye with a grin at a particularly nasty remark.

"He takes after me, right?" Jason said, leaning in so Steph could hear him.

"Oh, definitely," she laughed. "No question."

But as she smiled into Jason's playfully delighted face, Steph felt her axis tip - it couldn't be déjà vu, not yet, because Steph wasn't seeing Jason, but some hazy future husband, with their own kid in between them, who they took to Roller Derby matches and teased each other about and loved so damn much, and they were the family she'd always dreamed of, in a world where she didn't give her next baby away, where she was stable and loved and able to be a vigilante and a mom and a wife and - and - and Steph's breath caught in her throat and she was suddenly back in the arena with Jason, who was looking at her a little curiously.

"Stephie?" he said. "You ok?"

"Yeah," Steph said, swallowing hard and pulling away. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, giving Jason a shy smile before looking back out over the rink at the sport which Damian would no doubt dominate as soon as he figured out how to finagle his way onto a team.

Jason didn't say anything else, but when Steph dared to peek over at him a minute later, his eyes were still on her, soft and thoughtful. Dammit, why was her heart beating so fast? Steph blushed and would have turned away again, but Jason stretched his arm out and she couldn't help but lean towards the hand that cupped her neck and pulled her into a surprisingly sweet kiss behind Damian's head, a kiss that left her longing for something that wasn't a kiss and wasn't sex and why was she so flustered, it was just Jason - who was scooping Damian up and plopping him down in his lap so he could scoot over on the bleachers next to Steph, wrapping an arm low around her waist and pressing a kiss to the side of her head that, for some inexplicable reason, made Steph want to bawl.

She settled for burying her face in Jason's shoulder, instead, and snuggling in closer to him and if he smiled when her hand landed on his that was wrapped around Damian's waist, well, that had absolutely nothing to do with why Steph left it there, or the big smile on her own face when Jason hooked a few of their fingers together.

She had no idea who won the match.

* * *

Damian pouted when Jason insisted that they walk Steph up to her apartment at the end of the night when they dropped her off.

"Stephanie is more than capable of fighting off any lowbrow criminals that may be in the stairwells," Damian argued as Jason dragged him out of the car.

"That is quite the compliment, Damian," Steph said dryly. "Thank you."

"Tt," said Damian, looking unimpressed.

"It's called being a gentleman," Jason told his little brother as Steph let them into the building.

"Since when are you a gentleman?" Damian cackled.

"Since I found a girl I want to impress," Jason said, and yeah, Steph was totally blushing now, and her insides were skipping around in happy circles, and fuuuuuck she was falling so hard, and she hoped to hell her heart didn't end up as bruised and banged up as the Roller Girls they'd seen tonight by the time the dust settled on whatever this thing with Jason was threatening to turn into.

Was maybe already turning into.

Had possibly, already, maybe, passed the point of no return, and Steph didn't want to admit how scared that made her - or if the possibility of being deliriously happy was what scared her more than the risk of ending up heartbroken.

"Well," Steph said when they reached her door. "This was a lot of fun. We should do it again," she said.

"Indeed," Damian said eagerly. "I have procured the team schedule," he said, producing a tiny paper pamphlet.

"We'll have to check with Dick, but I'm up for becoming a hardcore fan if you are, babe," Jason said, meeting Steph's eyes in a question mark.

"Yes," she said without hesitation, although she wasn't quite sure that it was still Roller Derby that she was saying yes to.

Especially when Jason's eyes melted into hers, looking so fond and content and happy and -

"May we leave now?" Damian said pointedly. "Stephanie is at her door."

"I think I need a hug first," Steph said thoughtfully.

Damian sighed, but he motioned to Jason briskly with his hand.

"Very well, ahki. Embrace her."

"I meant from you," Steph smirked.

Damian looked at her in horror.

"I do not hug," he said.

"Hair ruffle?" Steph suggested. "Forehead kiss? Fist bump?"

"Uggh," Damian groaned. "Shake my hand and be done with it."

"Very well," Steph said solemnly, reaching out and graciously shaking the tiny assassin's hand. "How about you, Mister Todd?" she said, with suddenly twinkling eyes. "Do I merit a little more than a handshake?"

"You know you do, sweetheart," Jason said, and although the kiss that he pressed to her lips was fairly chaste, because Damian, the hand that tangled in her hair was warmly intimate and lingered after his lips had left her mouth in a way that found Steph curling her head into it while Jason's thumb traced circles on her scalp.

"Night, Stephie," Jason said softly.

Steph's hand found Jason's waist and gently palmed it while they kept looking into each other's eyes. And maybe they would have stood like that for a long time, except for the fact that Steph suddenly caught movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Damian!" she scolded as the tiny boy flipped himself upside down over the railing and casually hung by his ankles.

"Rouse me when you are finished ogling each other," Damian said, closing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.

He squawked when Jason abruptly grabbed him by an ankle and swung him out in mid-air.

"We're finished, habibi," Jason said sweetly. "Thank you ever so much for waiting so patiently."

"Tt," Damian said.

Jason gave Steph a wry look as he hauled the boy back over the landing, and it totally wasn't Steph's fault that she couldn't help but think what an amazing dad Jason would be, right? That was some grade-A parenting right there, as far as Steph was concerned.

"Bye, baby," Jason sighed, dodging in for one last quick kiss before Damian dragged him down the stairs.

"Good night," Steph called after them, feeling all kinds of unusually fond things inside as she watched them go.

* * *

"Hi, Stephie!" Jason's voice sounded so excited to hear from her the next day that Steph felt tiny heart balloons explode in her chest.

"Hi, Jase," she said back, glad that she didn't have him on Facetime so that he couldn't see her goofy smile. He might think she'd been Joker-gassed.

"What's going on with my favorite girl?" Jason asked her, and oh, that totally made Steph bury her face in her arm for a silent giggle of delight.

"Well, I don't know if you already had anything planned for our date on Friday," Steph said in a deceptively normal voice, "but I saw a flyer on campus that the drama department is putting on Hamlet this weekend, and I thought you might want to go? I could get us tickets."

"Oh, my God!" Jason said, sounding, if possible, even more excited than he had when he'd first answered the phone. "I'd love to, babe!" he said. "I've never seen a live Shakespeare play."

"Really?" Steph said, and oh, Jason was making something ache in her heart. "You've seen all the movies so I kind of figured you would have seen some plays, too," she said.

"Yeah, well," Jason sighed, and suddenly he sounded old and tired. "You know," he said slowly. "When I came back, I was so busy being Red Hood - and I guess I still am - and, well… there's a lot I never got around to," he finished kind of quietly. "Being a vigilante doesn't leave much room for a life."

"We're making room for a life now," Steph argued gently. "You and me."

"Yeah, we are," Jason said, and Steph could feel his fond smile coming through the phone. "I'm glad," he added.

"Me, too," Steph said. "I thought going to college would help me feel more connected," she said, "but honestly, Jason? It's kind of the opposite," she said. "I exist on such a different plane than all these other kids - and they seem like kids," she said in frustration, "and I want to make friends, I do - but - I have bigger problems in my life than who to room with next semester, or how many papers I have due at once, or whether I should stack all my classes Monday through Wednesday or if I'd rather not have any morning classes even if that means class every day."

Jason hummed sympathetically.

"Once the masked life gets you, it's got you for life," he said.

"Yeah," Steph said softly. "That's partly why I'm so glad we're dating; I mean, that it's you I'm dating," she said. "I never even bothered trying to date civilians."

"Me, neither," Jason said. "Hookups are about all they're good for."

Steph laughed.

"Pretty much," she said.

"Hey, I wanted to tell you how good you were with Damian last night," Jason said, shifting topics.

Steph wrinkled her brow.

"How so?" she said, thinking back over their evening at Roller Derby.

"When he didn't want to hug you," Jason said, "and you didn't try to force him to."

"Oh," Steph said in surprise. "I would never force anybody to have unwanted affection."

"A lot of people do, though," Jason said. "Especially towards kids. As if kids don't have the right to consent, or to own their own bodies and set boundaries. It's gross the way a lot of adults treat kids, and… I dunno, it just made me really happy that you're not like that."

Steph's smile lit her face up.

"Thanks, Jase," she said, soaking in the warm lava slowly flowing from Jason's pleased approval to her heart. "I was impressed with you, too," she said with a grin. "How you dangled him off the landing."

And Jason laughed out loud.

"He was being a brat," he said, still chuckling.

"I agree," said Steph. "And you couldn't have handled it better," she said honestly.

"Mm," Jason said thoughtfully. "Well… I'm glad you saw something you liked, Stephie," he said in a darker voice, and oh, that put some flutters lower down in Steph's body.

"I see a lot of things I like," she said back to him as her heart rate sped up.

"Yeah?" said Jason, and oh God, Steph hoped he couldn't hear her breathing getting louder. "One day real soon, you're gonna have to tell me all about that," he said.

"Whenever you want," Steph said, screwing her eyes shut and praying it would be after their date on Friday.

"I'll keep that in mind," Jason teased. "I gotta run, babe," he said, although Steph was quite sure he didn't, "but I'll see you soon, ok?"

"Ok," Steph said, feeling ready to levitate off her couch by the time she hung up.

But even though she was super turned on and enjoyed taking care of it, Steph couldn't stop thinking about Jason afterwards, the way he constantly did so much for the community and for the Batfamily but had never once made time for himself to see a Shakespeare play.

And if the few hours that Steph spent that afternoon brainstorming future date ideas that Jason would love didn't quite manage to wipe the lingering tears from her eyes, maybe Steph didn't quite mind, because when had anybody ever cried for Jason? Or cared about if he was happy or not?

Oh, Dick and Babs loved him, she knew that. Jason knew it, too. But family was - family. The Batfamily more so than others. They loved each other, but the focus was always going to be the mission; and if a family member was hurting, it wasn't that the rest of the family didn't care, but it was always care sheathed in cautious concern for how the Bats would be affected as a whole, how field work might suffer, how cases might be put at risk.

And maybe that was good enough for Babs and Dick - they had other friends and former teammates to fall back on for emotional support. But dammit, Jason didn't. And he gave so much, all the time - to Damian, yeah, but even to Dick, offering to take Damian when Bruce died, and then committing to patrols and team meetings like he'd never done before for B - and now Jason was pouring all of that generosity onto her, and Steph felt like she would burst if she couldn't return some of it back to him.

* * *

Batgirl moaned into their impromptu makeout session the next night as Red Hood pinned her against a wall, swirling all kinds of deliciousness into her mouth with his tongue and making her so hot and wet and desperate that a little whimper finally escaped her mouth.

And dammit, that made Jason pull back, although only to rest his forehead on hers while he panted to catch his breath.

"I'll see you tomorrow night?" he finally said.

"Or you could see me later tonight after patrol," Steph said back and Jason groaned.

"God knows I want to, babe…" he said, trailing off.

"You want to talk about it?" Steph said after a long minute of Jason nuzzling the side of her face.

Jason made a frustrated noise.

"No," he said reluctantly. "I just - I need some more time, Stephie," he said. "Is that ok?"

"Of course it's ok," Steph said gently, reaching her hands up to palm the sides of his face. "However much time you want to take is totally fine, baby," she said, and that must have been the right thing to say, because Jason was making a little happy noise in the back of his throat and kissing her some more, and maybe he would have kissed her a lot longer except that Oracle buzzed in their ears about a gang fight they had to go break up.

But running across rooftops side by side and then kicking ass back to back wasn't that bad of an alternative to making out, Steph had to admit. It was really fucking sexy to fight side by side with Red Hood, especially knowing that the lips hidden under that helmet had been pressed against hers minutes before.

Plus, Jason totally smooched her again after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, your author is still teasing you... What is going ON with Jason, Hmmmm? ;) 
> 
> Two chapters to go, and they're both much longer! See you tomorrow night, Bat-readers!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	8. It's a Nightmare But It's One Exciting Ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack sorry for the late posting! I started writing another fic last night, meant to post this at midnight, looked up and it was 5 AM. Ooops. Oh, well, you'll get the last chapter sooner anyway? heh.

Steph let out an excited squee and buried her face in Jason's chest for a long hug when he showed up for their date with a bouquet of purple and red roses for her.

"You kept the vase out," Jason grinned when he saw it standing empty on the kitchen counter.

"Yeah, well, you hinted," Steph smiled shyly as she inhaled the rich scent of the roses. "The tulips lasted all week," she added. "I only had to throw them away this morning."

Jason smiled at her and God, it made Steph's insides feel funny, but in a delightfully melty chocolate kind of way, a little messy and unexpected, but not unpleasantly so, even if her emotions were running all over the place while Jason arranged her bouquet and took her hand and led her out the door. Steph smiled up at Jason as they walked down the stairwell, swinging hands together, and by the time they reached the ground level she'd decided that sticky, indistinct feelings were no cause for concern as long as they continued to feel so delicious.

"So, tell me what this play is about?" Steph said when they were in Bruce's sweet car, driving across town to Gotham University.

"You don't know?" Jason said in surprise, looking over at Steph.

"Uh uh," she said. "I don't know anything about Shakespeare. Except for Romeo and Juliet, I watched the Leonardo DiCaprio movie a long time ago."

"Why'd you want to see Hamlet, then?" Jason asked her, looking confused.

Steph looked at him curiously, but he really didn't seem to get it.

"I wanted to take you to see it," Steph said, "because I knew you'd like it."

Jason blinked at her. And then stared hard at the road for a minute, and then, holy shit, he was wiping some tears from his eye, and maybe Steph was getting a few in her own, because Jason really hadn't put it together?

"Fuck, baby," he finally said roughly, grabbing Steph's hand and pulling it up to his mouth to plant a kiss on it. "You're fucking incredible, you know that?" Jason said, sounding awe-struck, but broken, too, and God, that made Steph's heart bleed.

"You're incredible, too," Steph said hoarsely, leaning over to plant a kiss on Jason's shoulder. Jason squeezed her hand tighter, and when he had to let it go to change gears, Steph wrapped it around his upper arm instead and laid her head down on him while he drove, despite the awkward stretch from the passenger seat.

"So, uh, Hamlet," Jason said after a minute, clearing his throat. "It starts with his uncle killing his dad."

"Ooo, dark," said Steph.

"Oh, it gets better," Jason grinned. "His uncle marries his mom…"

* * *

By the time they arrived at the school, Steph had gotten the Jason-edit of Hamlet, complete with scathing commentary on why different characters did or did not suck, and Steph was starting to think that she might actually enjoy the play for more than the costumes. And, well, for more than the absolutely divine pleasure of making Jason Todd so happy that he'd not only almost cried in the car, but was now looking down at her with absolute adoration on his face while they waited in the lobby of the theatre for the house doors to open.

Steph was curled around his chest, smiling back up at him when she heard her name being called.

"Steph! Hi!"

She looked over and saw one of her not-really-a-friend-because-no-one-was classmates.

"Hi, Ashley," Steph said, only slightly unwrapping herself from Jason.

"It's good to see you!" Ashley said brightly. "I don't usually run into you at campus events."

"Yeah… I'm pretty busy," Steph said, internally sighing. "This is my boyfriend, Jason," she said. "This is Ashley from my statistics class," she introduced.

"It's nice to meet you," Jason said, sticking a hand out to shake.

"Yeah, you, too," Ashley said. "Are you a student here?"

"No," Jason said easily. "I work down in the warehouse district."

And Steph would've had to bite her tongue to keep from chuckling, except for the change in Ashley's expression. Oh, it was slight. Almost imperceptible, except to someone who'd seen that same shift too many times to count. Steph felt her teeth set on edge.

"Um…" Ashley was saying, pasting a smile that was suddenly too bright onto her face. "That's cool," she said with way too much enthusiasm.

"It's a really good job," Steph said tightly. "Pays great. No student debt."

Ashley's eyes flicked over to Steph as Jason glanced down at her.

"Yeah," Ashley said, clearing her throat. "Yeah, that's awesome," she said. "So, uh, how did you two meet?" And that was way too curious a tone for Steph's liking, laced with something just barely predatory.

"Mutual friends," Steph said, not only because it was true, but also to see Ashley's reaction.

"Oh," Ashley said quietly, looking at Steph a little more appraisingly. "Well, um, it was good seeing you, Steph," she said. "I see my friend over there, so, uh, I'll see you in class."

"Yep," Steph said.

"Nice meeting you, Ashley," Jason said graciously, with a glimmer in the corner of his eye for Steph. He turned his back on Ashley once she'd made her escape and wrapped his arms around Steph's waist.

"You ok?" he said quietly.

"That fucking bitch," Steph hissed. "As if she's so much better than anyone else because she's going to a school that she can't even afford to pay for herself, either. Fucking white collar assholes," Steph whispered in a near-rage. "Fuck her for looking at you like that."

"It's ok," Jason said soothingly.

"It's not," Steph said, blinking hard. "You're like a hundred times smarter than her and working at a warehouse _would_ be a good job, it pays way more than most things do, and everyone looks at Narrows folks like we're shit when they're way more fucked up than we are - and -" and Steph was sniffing and Jason suddenly had her pulled against his chest while he stroked the back of her head.

"I don't care what she thinks," he said, gently rocking Steph back and forth. "I care what you think," he said. "And did my ears deceive me, or did the almighty Jolene just call little old me her boyfriend?"

Steph's giggle cut through her frustrated tears against her will.

"Yes," she said, propping her chin up on Jason's chest to look up at him. "That's ok, right?"

"Baby, that is so ok," Jason breathed over Steph's lips before kissing her. "Hey," he said when he pulled back, trailing a finger down Steph's cheek. "We're way more than she'll ever be," he said. "Fuck the middle-class."

Steph sighed, but wrinkled her nose up and nodded in agreement. And Jason cuddling her in his arms felt like a squishy blanket of cozy acceptance, because here they were, her and Jason, two Narrows kids standing together against class snobbery in an institution of higher learning, feeling as out of place as Harley Quinn at a psychologist's conference but still insisting on their right to be there, and… it felt damn good.

The house lights started to blink and the ushers opened the theatre doors, and Jason gave Steph an excited grin as they moved inside to find their seats. And the fact that Jason couldn't stop looking over at her while he read the program notes (which he actually cared about reading which was too cute for words) while they sat waiting for the play to start put fluffy stars in Steph's chest that kept glowing even after the lights went down and the play began.

Jason was more bubbly with excitement at intermission than Steph had ever seen him, babbling on and on to her about how he thought the different actors were doing, and whose interpretation was best, and what he thought of the staging, and Steph listened while trying to bottle the moment up inside a mental genie's lamp so she could summon it later at will, because this was a side of Jason that Steph didn't think anyone ever saw, and she felt so lucky, so damn lucky to not only get to witness it, but to be the one who had inspired it, that she could hardly breathe with all the feels she was feeling.

Jason paused for breath at one point and Steph took the opportunity to wrap him up in a hug so tight that he glanced down at her in surprise.

"I'm sorry," he said bashfully. "Am I talking too much?"

"God, no," Steph said honestly as she tipped her head up to look at him. "I love hearing what you think."

Steph's heart stuttered as Jason's face slowly transformed from tiny candle flames of happiness to a full-on bonfire of delight as the sincerity of Steph's answer sunk in, and then he was holding her face in both hands and kissing her, slow and tender and deep and fuck, it was taking Steph's breath away and making her heart pound in her chest and suddenly she felt like she was free-falling from Gotham Cathedral without a grappling hook, but the chimes for the end of intermission called her back to reality just before she crashed into the pavement of a reality that she maybe wasn't quite ready to face.

Steph couldn't read the look in Jason's eyes when he reluctantly pulled back, but it made her shiver and rooted her feet to the floor, as she slowly blinked up at him.

"We'd better go sit back down," Jason said softly as he gently threaded some of Steph's hair behind her ears.

Steph felt too tongue-tied to do anything except nod as Jason took her hand and led her back to their seats. While they waited for the rest of the audience to trudge back in, Jason pulled Steph's hand up to his mouth and began planting little kisses on it until the lights went down, but even then he didn't let go, but held her hand as carefully in both of his as if it was breakable, while he gently traced little patterns onto it that made Steph's stomach do loop-de-loops.

And despite the fact that Jason was absorbed in the play, he kept glancing over at Steph every so often with a bright smile on his face, like he couldn't quite help himself. And if Steph kept her eyes more on Jason than on Hamlet for the second half, well, she felt like she had the better view.

* * *

Steph happily listened to Jason chatter on the way home about his final thoughts on the play, occasionally adding in which parts she'd liked best, but mostly swimming in how fucking happy she felt to have put Jason in such a good mood, although it made her feel choked up, too. Because not that long ago, Jason used to look haunted and angry most of the time, like he was constantly carrying the weight of his death around in an invisible coffin on his back.

But now? Jason was lit up from the inside, and Steph couldn't see a trace of a shadow dimming his glow, and fuck, that made her feel so thankful even if it made her heart hurt at the same time to realize just how sad Jason Todd used to be.

Steph wrapped her arms around Jason's neck when they made it up to her apartment door and eagerly leaned into him for what turned out to be short, silly, giddy kisses, before Jason was pulling her in for a tight hug and caressing his arms over her back and nuzzling her hair.

"I'm gonna assume from now on that you know you have a standing invitation to come in," Steph said in his ear, "but I'm gonna quit asking about it. You tell me whenever you're ready, ok?" she said.

"Ok, baby," Jason said, pressing more kisses into first her forehead, then her nose and cheeks and finally her mouth. "I appreciate you being so understanding about it."

"Of course, Jason," Steph said in surprise. "So what if I'm wearing my vibrator batteries out faster than normal," she suddenly teased with a twinkle in her eye. "It's fine," she said. "I'll buy more."

Jason started laughing against her and ended up kissing her more in between giggles.

"Text me what kind they are later," he finally caught his breath long enough to say. "I'll buy you rechargeable ones," he said with a wicked grin.

"Oh, I will definitely do that, Mister Todd," Steph said flirtatiously.

Jason smiled at her and almost looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he gave her one last kiss.

"Do you want to ride with me to the family meeting on Sunday?" he asked as he was about to turn away. "On my bike?"

"Uh, hell yeah," Steph said with a wide smile.

"All right, baby," Jason smiled at her. "I'll see you soon, I'm sure," he said. "Don't forget to text me," he added over his shoulder, as he started down the stairs.

Steph laughed in delight when she woke up the next morning to find a bag taped to her bedroom window containing a set of rechargeable AA and AAA batteries, but she moaned out loud when an unexpected, plainly marked box was delivered to her door later that day that opened to reveal two different and very expensive USB rechargeable vibrators, each with a multitude of functions and speeds - the kind of vibrators that Steph had long ago resigned herself to forever lusting after but never purchasing due to their price tags.

"Oh, fuck," she whispered to herself with big eyes. "Keep taking your time, Jason," she muttered under her breath as she skipped back to her bedroom to try them out. "Totally fine," she grinned.

It was a good day.

* * *

The night, however, not so much.

Oh, it started out fine, even up to halfway through patrol, and when Steph got the call from Oracle to go meet Jason to help take down some smugglers on the docks, her heart buzzed eagerly as she raced across town.

"Hiya, Red Hood," Batgirl said cheerfully when she dropped down on the roof next to him as he scoped out the situation.

"Hi, yourself, Batbabe," Red Hood said back, and yeah, his voice was modulated through the helmet, but Steph still knew he was smiling at her underneath.

"How are we gonna do this?" Steph asked him.

Red Hood cautiously motioned to the armed smugglers moving crates back and forth from a ship in the harbor to a warehouse.

"Weapons dealers," he said grimly. "I want to let them get the whole shipment off the boat before we move in or else they'll split and offload them somewhere else. As soon as they finish, we'll go," he said. "I'll take the ship, you take the warehouse."

"Sounds like a plan," Batgirl said. "Um," she said carefully, "are we blowing the warehouse after, or what?" she said.

Destroying the weapons once and for all was undoubtedly the better option. Despite Commissioner Gordon's oversight, they wouldn't be able to trust the GCPD with a highgrade weapons arsenal that a few dirty cops could easily sell to the highest bidder, nullifying all of their work tonight. But - rigging a warehouse to blow - well -

Steph saw Jason's shoulders tense under his jacket.

"We should," he said tonelessly through his helmet, but he'd gone rigid.

"Or," Steph said slowly, "we could take out all the baddies ourselves and then call Batman and Robin in to rig the charges and destroy the cache."

Red Hood turned to look at her.

"It's a perfect task for the two of them to practice their teamwork," Steph pointed out, "and once we've taken care of the guards, there won't be any threat to Robin. Or Batman," she added.

Red Hood didn't move for a long minute, but he finally nodded.

"Ok," he said. "Call it in to O?" he asked Batgirl. "Tell her we'll signal her once we've secured the site."

"Ok," Steph said.

She reached out for Jason's hand while she talked to Oracle, and Red Hood, who had gone back to watching the docks, jerked his head over to Batgirl in surprise when gloved hand squeezed gloved hand, but then he was gripping Steph's hand tight and didn't let go until long after Steph was off the comms, when the final weapons crates were being offloaded.

"Let's move in," Red Hood said, and Batgirl nodded.

The duo quietly crept through the shadows, silently but quickly knocking out the perimeter guards as they went, until they were almost at the front corner of the warehouse.

"I'll make for the ship as soon as they wheel the final crates inside," Red Hood said. "Once I'm onboard, or if they come out after me, go," he said.

Batgirl nodded sharply, her stomach churning with the adrenaline that she always felt before a fight, feeling antsy with the waiting and shifting back and forth on the balls of her feet while she palmed a batarang in each hand.

Hood held up his hand in a ready signal as the workers slid the dolly under the last stack of cargo. As soon as he heard the wheels scrape over the metal loading ramp, he took off running. All was quiet for a few seconds, and then the shouting starting.

Batgirl leapt around the corner, flinging her batarangs and knocking out the first two guards who came running from the warehouse after Red Hood. Then she flew into action as more guards raced outside, slamming fists to face and knees to groin and batarangs to head as she worked to disable the armed guards as they exited the warehouse before they could get a shot off on Red Hood.

It was so tempting to turn around and check on him, but Steph knew better. One moment of distraction, and she'd be needing a rescue herself. Besides, Jason, of all people, could take care of himself; but this was the biggest brawl they'd been in together since dating, and Steph couldn't help but feel a little anxious, despite the fact that she continued to relentlessly kick ass and focus on her own task at hand.

Some of the workers had started racing out of the warehouse now, a few with the idea of taking down Batgirl, a few foolish enough to try to flee to the ship, not realizing that Red Hood was on board, and the rest trying to escape inland towards the main road out of the harbor.

Steph elbowed one worker in the throat before dodging another in favor of taking down an armed guard first, although that meant that she got a nasty crack to her back ribs from one of the grunts, but hey, better than being shot at. She let loose with a vicious kick, at least, to the one who'd attacked her from behind, and the resulting howl of pain made her grin.

Once she'd dropped the workers swarming her, she took off after the ones who'd fled, hoping to stop at least a few of them before they got away, although the bigger fish were definitely the guards, but the biggest objective of all was to keep the weapons from hitting the street. Tonight wasn't about catching the higher ups - it was threat containment, pure and simple.

Batgirl managed to hit two of the bolting workers with batarangs before straying too far from the docks, and then she was charging back down to the water to finish securing the perps she'd already knocked out while keeping an ear out on the comms in case Red Hood needed backup.

By the time Batgirl had the zip-ties on, Red Hood was jogging over to her from the boat, giving her a thumbs-up.

"All clear?" he asked her.

"A few of the workers got away," Batgirl said, "and I still need to sweep the warehouse in case anyone's hiding."

"We'll do it together," Hood said, and Steph nodded.

They cautiously approached the docking bay from the side of the entrance instead of head-on, creeping along the outer wall until darting inside in an instant with guns out, in Red Hood's case, and batarangs up, in Batgirl's.

"Stay behind me," he said to her. "Night vision," he said, tapping his helmet.

He set off leading the way down the aisle of neatly stacked shipping crates, with Batgirl just behind him at his shoulder, the two of them spinning in opposite directions to check for lurkers every time that they passed a new row of crates.

They were just approaching the final row when it happened. For a split second, Steph saw the lone guard who popped out from behind the crates, assault rifle in hands. The next instant, Red Hood had whirled around and slammed into Batgirl face first, catching her with an arm around her waist and using his other hand to press her head tightly against his chest.

Steph hardly had time to register the Jason-impact before she heard Hood scream in pain. She felt the jolt of his body against hers and automatically braced them with a foot set backwards to keep from falling before she realized that she'd heard a shot - no, multiple shots, fuck, they were still coming and Jason was screaming and cursing up a storm as they hit his back and maybe his helmet and Steph steadied them, her thighs burning every time Jason got shoved up against her even harder from the bullet impacts, which, fuck, when would they stop, how many rounds were standard, 30?

Oh, God, the noise was deafening and her back and heels and calves and thighs were aching, but she refused to let them fall and it seemed like they were stuck in an eternal hell where time slowed down to deafening shots and screams and hold on, she had to hold on and keep them upright and Steph's ears were ringing so loudly that she didn't register the momentary pause until she was falling backwards on her ass as Jason dropped her to whirl around and empty his gun into the guard's head before collapsing to the ground in a heap.

"Oh, God," Steph whispered, crawling forward to where Jason was curled up moaning. "Did any go through your vest?" she said in a panic, slipping her hands underneath his ruined leather jacket to feel for any bloody holes, and not letting her breath out until her hands had traveled up and down Jason's back twice, sliding over nothing but flattened lumps of bullets stopped by Red Hood's armored vest.

"M'ok," Hood managed to get out. "Hurts like hell. Might've cracked a vertebrae or two," he said before dissolving back into agonized groans of pain.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Steph said, blinking away tears and turning on her comm. "Oracle!" she said. "Get Batman and Robin over here now with the Batmobile. Hood got his back shot up bad with an AK-47, but none pierced the vest."

"Oh, fuck," Babs answered immediately. "Sending them over now."

"We're in the warehouse," Steph said. "Docks and ship secure but we didn't finish sweeping the warehouse so they need to stay alert."

"Roger that," Oracle said, signing off.

"Take a gun," Jason mumbled. "In case anyone else shows up. Shoot for the head," he said.

"Ok," Steph said with her stomach in knots but no hesitation in her heart.

She grabbed a glock from Jason's thigh holster and gripped it hard because fuck if she was gonna let anyone kill her. Or Jason, although he had more armor than she did. God, she could have died just now.

Red Hood's vest was both bullet proof and armored, but Batgirl's suit needed more flexibility due to her closer range style of fighting because she didn't, you know, shoot people from a distance like Red Hood loved to do, except for throwing a gooperang or two.

What that meant, though, was that Steph didn't have an additional layer of hard armor. For smaller guns, her suit protected her just fine. But when going up against more heavily armed guards? First of all, that wasn't her normal M.O. Back when B was here - alive - fuck, she missed him so much sometimes - he and Red Hood would've handled the heavier armed guards themselves.

But B wasn't here, was he? And Dick was still clumsy in the suit he'd never wanted to fill, although getting better every week, and dammit, why was she crying? Jason would be ok, he'd be ok, and B was an old cranky bastard most of the time anyway, but Steph couldn't stop the tears sliding down her cheeks, even as she remained alert in case another guard was lurking.

"S'ok, baby," Jason mumbled, his voice sounding more garbled than normal through his helmet, which had taken a few hits, too. "We're ok," he said.

"Yeah," Steph choked out.

She'd never been so glad to see the Batmobile show up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left! I promise it has smut!!!!


	9. Tale As Old As Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! And it's the longest chapter of all. SMUT AHEAD, obviously XD 
> 
> Ok, so I didn't forget to post tonight, I just was napping and then polishing up this last chapter took longer than expected. But it's here! It's finished! I hope you all love it! 
> 
> And you, especially, Twinnie-in-Law! Happy Fic Exchange!

An hour after getting shot, Jason was groaning in his own bed, stripped down to his boxers.

A very worried Dick and Damian had shown up and swept the warehouse a final time before Dick and Steph had hauled Jason (as gently as they could) into the Batmobile's backseat, where he stretched out lengthwise. Steph waited with him while Batman and Robin set the explosives, but she and Damian were crammed together in the passenger seat with Dick in the driver's seat before Batman activated the remote detonator and blew the weapons cache sky high, and Steph knew in her heart that Dick had waited to blow the bombs until Jason could see with his own eyes that they were all safe, which, yeah, maybe gave Steph a few soft tears that she had to blink away.

After driving Jason to his safehouse, Batman and Batgirl had carefully assisted Red Hood up to his bedroom and removed his armor before Batman and Robin departed for the night.

"You'll stay with him?" Dick had asked Steph unnecessarily.

"Damn right I'm staying," she said, earning a pained but content smile from Jason.

And now it was just the two of them, Steph in a pair of Jason's boxers with one of his t-shirts on after showering, and she couldn't help but notice the heated way that Jason was looking at her wearing his clothes, despite his injuries.

"Can I get you anything, Jase?" Steph asked him, while her cheeks flushed warm. "Painkillers?" she said.

"They don't work on me," Jason sighed. "Damned Pit effects. But," he went on, "I'll be A-OK by morning," he said. "So that's the upside."

"Really?" Steph said in surprise. "You think you'll be completely healed up that fast?"

"Oh, yeah," Jason said confidently. "I've had much worse. I'll be fine, Stephie," he promised her, scanning Steph's face with eyes that were concerned for _her_ , when he was the one lying there with agonizing back pain and possible fractures and deep purple, welted bruises from every round of the AK-47.

"Ok," Steph said, still feeling a little worried but hoping he was right. "Well…" she said slowly. "I guess I'll go sleep on the couch…?" she said hesitantly.

Jason scoffed.

"Hell, no, you're not sleeping on the couch," he said. "Get in here next to me," he ordered from the bed.

"Ok," Steph smiled, feeling her insides light up like a swarm of happy fireflies.

She crawled under the covers and lay down facing Jason before reaching out a gentle hand to trace his face.

"Thank you," Steph whispered, "for protecting me."

"I'll always protect you, baby," Jason said softly, sweeping her over with a tenderly possessive gaze, and his eyes looked like they wanted to say more, but he bit his lip instead before flushing and glancing away.

Steph hummed and kept palming Jason's face, caressing the stubble of his post-five-o'clock shadow and tracing her thumb along the ridges of his cheek.

"I really liked my toys," Steph said, and oh, Jason's head turned back to her fast, then.

"Yeah?" Jason said with a slow and sexy grin.

"Mm-hm," Steph said, dropping her thumb to his lips. "That was an awesome surprise," she said as Jason sucked the tip of her finger into his mouth.

He let it go, though, to say, "You'll have to let me watch you play with them one day," and oh, fuck, Steph would've played with them right then and there, if Jason had been willing and if the vibrators weren't, ya know, back at her apartment.

God, she hoped that Jason wanted to have sex soon, but she was ok waiting. Really. She would never push anyone into having sex that they didn't want, but, God, she wanted it bad, and not even just for the sex. Steph had all these _feelings_ that she didn't know what to do with anymore, and all she wanted was to pour them into Jason with her fingers and lips and tongue and cunt and… oh, that was her who let out that breathy sigh.

Jason giggled and then Steph was laughing, too.

"Soon, baby," he said. "I promise. I don't think it's gonna be long at all now before I'm ready."

"Ok," Steph smiled.

They were quiet for a minute, content to smile into each other's eyes, when Jason suddenly said, "Hey," like an idea just popped into his head.

"Would you mind reading to me some?" he asked Steph. "I don't think I'm gonna be able to fall asleep for awhile."

"Sure," said Steph, feeling mildly surprised at the request.

Jason must have noticed, because he gave her a bashful little smile.

"My mom used to read to me when I was sick," he said. "B did, too," he mumbled, and oh, God, Steph's heart wailed at hearing that, and she had to lean over and give Jason a long, sweet kiss before pushing herself up into a sitting position on the bed.

"What should I read?" she asked him, looking over at the literal stack of books on his nightstand.

"Could you read some Shakespeare sonnets?" Jason said a little shyly. "It's the slim hardback."

"I'll do my best," Steph said bravely, leaning over to find the book. "I'm not gonna say it as good as any of the actors did," she said.

"You'll sound beautiful, sweetheart," Jason said, and oh, gosh, little red butterflies were flying out through the pores of Steph's cheeks. Fuck, she loved him.

Oh.

Yikes.

She loved Jason. Steph loved him. Loved him, Jason Todd. Red Hood. Loved. L-O-V-E-D him.

Well.

She'd known it was coming. And saving a girl's life, that was bound to bring it to the surface. But, geez - ugh - embarrassment times a thousand, she'd rather have realized she was in love with Jason when he was not right next to her in his bed so that she'd have some time to get used to the idea, but - she had a book to read, so it was all good.

Right? Right.

She'd just read these massively difficult Shakespeare sonnets, and everything would be fine, and she could process her feelings alone in the dark once Jason fell asleep.

Yep. Steph had a plan. Cool.

"Should I start at the beginning, or what?" Steph asked Jason as she pulled the book into her lap and flipped it open, focusing very hard on the pages and not looking over at Jason at all.

"Start with number twenty-three," Jason said. "That's my favorite."

"Ok," Steph said easily, thumbing through the pages until she found it.

She cleared her throat for dramatic effect before beginning.

"As an unperfect actor on the stage," - oh, it was about acting! That was sweet, Steph thought to herself happily, thinking back on their awesome date.

"Who with his fear is put besides his part," - no idea what that meant, Steph thought, but moving on -

"Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage," - ok, that broke her heart, because oh, God, of course Jason related to that. Steph looked over at him sympathetically and reached out to hold his hand before she went on, smiling when Jason kissed it before hanging onto it tight.

"Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;" - um, maybe that meant the rage took away Jason's love? Sure, that worked.

"So I, for fear of trust, forget to say  
The perfect ceremony of love's rite," - uh, what? Not sure, Steph thought haphazardly, plowing ahead.

"And in mine own love's strength seem to decay," - yeah, this was getting damn confusing. Steph was totally gonna make Jason explain this to her when she was done.

"O'ercharg'd with burden of mine own love's might." - hello, apostrophes! Good-bye, understanding! Steph thought merrily.

"O, let my books be then the eloquence  
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast;" - ok, that part Steph sort of understood, the books were gonna do the talking -

"Who plead for love, and look for recompense," - so… Shakespeare… wanted love? Maybe?

"More than that tongue that more hath more express'd." - why was every sentence with an apostrophe the most difficult to understand? Geez Louise, Bill. Steph was sensing a pattern.

"O, learn to read what silent love hath writ:  
To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit." - Wait - what was he saying? Steph frowned in concentration.

Uh, so - Bill was in love - but - didn't say so? Hear with eyes… meant… see it? Not hear it?

Steph looked up and over at Jason, meaning to ask him if she'd figured it out right in her head, and involuntarily drew her breath in on a gasp. Because -

Holy fuck.

Talk about hear with eyes.

Steph had never seen so much affection pouring out of somebody before. It was falling like a waterfall out of Jason's eyes, and he was looking at her like like she was some kind of angel who'd come down to bless him with her presence, and fuck, he looked so happy - so fucking happy but kind of shy, too, and - wait, that was like Shakespeare, like the sonnet - the _damn sonnet - Jason picked the sonnet -_ oh, God, Jason loved her - he _loved her - OH MY GOD HE LOVES ME TOO -_

"You love me too?" Steph blurted out right before her tears started and a huge but watery smile cracked her face wide open.

"Too?" Jason said in confusion before it clicked in. "Oh, my God, you love _me_?" he said, suddenly lighting up like fireworks on the Fourth of July.

"Yes," Steph sniffed, dropping the book on the bed and attacking Jason's face - gently, though, back pain, injured boyfriend - but fuck, she was never going to stop kissing him, she could never get enough of kissing him, and Jason was kissing her, too, and Steph was laughing and crying into it, and Jason was, too.

"I love you," Steph managed to get out properly in between kisses.

"I love you, too, Stephie," Jason said back, "so much, baby," he said. "I didn't even know I could love somebody this much," he said, and God, he was crying and she was crying and GODDAMMIT WHY WAS HIS BACK HURT?

But calm down, Steph, Jason hadn't been ready for sex anyway, so just because they'd suddenly declared their love didn't necessarily mean -

"God, I wish I could fuck you right now," Jason groaned.

Steph puffed up like a happy bird.

"You do?" she beamed at him.

"Uh huh," Jason said, smiling up at her with his tear-stained face while he wiped her own cheeks dry with his hands. "I was only waiting 'cause I couldn't stand making love to you if you didn't love me back," he said, and, oh, God, if that didn't make Steph melt back into his lips, but it also made her think, because -

"How long have you been in love with me?" Steph asked Jason as she pulled back in surprise.

"Since the roller rink," he said. "Well, it started right before the rink," he said. "When I showed up at the penthouse and learned how much time you spend with Damian. It made me see you differently," he said, "like what a sweet person you are, and I dunno, my heart grew three sizes that day. Like the Grinch," Jason said.

Yeah, those were totally silly, happy noises coming out of Steph's throat as she went back to kissing him, and Jason was making them right back at her, and Steph felt so flooded with feels for Jason that she thought her own heart must be exploding into new and expanded regions, too.

""I'll fuck you in the morning, ok?" Jason promised Steph with a warm smile when they finally paused for breath. "As soon as my back is better."

"Yes," Steph breathed out before nuzzling her head into Jason's neck and pressing a million little kisses onto his collarbone.

Jason laughed softly and managed to kiss the top of her head without wrenching his back.

"God, you make me so happy, Steph," he said.

Steph paused in her rainshower of kisses and looked up at Jason with a slightly worried crease in her forehead.

"Do I still remind you of dying?" she asked him quietly.

"Fuck," Jason breathed out roughly. "No, Stephie," he said firmly. He took a deep breath.

"You remind me now why I want to live," Jason said in a voice that cracked over the last words, and then Steph was crying for real, tucking her face into Jason's shoulder and clutching a hand in his hair like she couldn't bear to let him go.

Steph fell asleep that night carefully curled into Jason's big spoon, although he complained that he couldn't wrap his arm around her yet like he wanted to because it pulled on his back too much. But Steph didn't mind. Jason was there, safe and alive and pressed up close behind her, and that was more than enough.

* * *

Steph came to drowsy consciousness she didn't know how many hours later, feeling Jason crawling back into bed behind her.

"Jase?" she said, rolling backwards to give him a sleepy look. "Are you ok?"

"Better than ok," Jason hummed happily as he settled into place behind her, this time wrapping an arm tight around Steph's middle. Oh, his skin was kind of damp and he smelled nice, too.

"Back's all better," he said. "I was just taking a shower. I didn't mean to wake you up, though, sweetheart," he said. "Go on back to sleep," Jason said gently. "I'm here."

"Ok," Steph mumbled drowsily. "Love you," she added with a little smile.

"Love you, too," Jason said back, pressing a kiss behind her ear.

Steph sighed and snuggled into Jason a little more firmly, since she didn't have to worry about hurting him now, and as she drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help making a giddy but silent little squee in her heart when Jason managed to cuddle into her even closer, slightly rolling them forward so he could cover her smaller body with his larger one as much as possible, and fuck, yeah, Jason _was_ always going to protect her, wasn't he? Even in their sleep. Steph passed out with a smile on her face.

* * *

When Steph woke up the second time, she finally felt completely rested. She softly hummed to herself, enjoying the feeling of being trapped snugly under Jason's protective arm that had her tucked tight into the curve of his body, his body that was still wrapped around hers like a giant, muscley blanket.

"Morning, baby," Jason rumbled in her ear as he lazily stroked his hand over her stomach in a way that made Steph feel dizzy with desire.

"This is an awesome way to wake up," Steph said happily as she intertwined her fingers with Jason's the same way she had that night at the club, months ago now, so they could both trace circles again on her belly.

"I'm thinking we should make this a habit," Jason said, and Steph smiled into her pillow.

"Agreed," she said before letting out a content sigh. "You make me so happy, too, Jase," she said. "You know that, right?"

"I hoped," Jason said softly, "but I can hardly believe that you forgive me for all the shit I used to put you through," he said regretfully. "I was such an asshole," he said, prompting little soothing whimpers to come out of Steph's throat as she rolled over to face him.

"I totally forgive you," she promised Jason, reaching a hand up to the back of his neck while his arm slid around her waist. "Yeah, it sucked and it hurt, but you were so sorry afterwards and when you told me why…" she trailed off for a minute.

"It doesn't make what you did better," Steph said thoughtfully, "but it makes it make sense, at least," she said. "And then you completely changed," she said. "Way before you wanted to date me, too. So, yeah. I forgive you, baby. Promise," Steph said, pulling herself up to press a gentle closed-mouth kiss to Jason's lips.

"You're so good to me," Jason mumbled, leaning into another kiss.

"Show me how good in just a second," Steph grinned. "I'm gonna go pee and brush my teeth," she said, rolling away and bouncing out of bed towards the bathroom, casting a flirtatious glance over her shoulder to Jason as she went, who smirked right back at her as he stretched out his arms behind his head.

When Steph came back, she paused at the edge of the bed before getting in.

"You want a sexy reveal?" she teased, fingering the edge of her t-shirt.

"Hell, yeah," Jason said delightedly, rolling onto his side to watch her better.

Steph winked at him before toying with the hem of her shirt, starting to shimmy her hips in circles as if she was back at the club, dancing to unheard music in her head while she stroked her hands sensually over her body. She slowly pulled the tee halfway up, almost to her breast line, before yanking it back down again, making Jason boo.

Steph laughed and turned around to twerk her butt at Jason, who wolf whistled at her. Still twerking, Steph managed to gradually push her boxers down past her curvy ass before finally kicking them off.

"Fuck, you're hot," Jason groaned happily.

"Thank you, sweetie," Steph smirked as she danced her way back to face him again, letting the t-shirt cover her mound at first before slowly pulling Jason's shirt up and over her head in one smooth move.

"You're so beautiful," Jason breathed out as Steph paused and posed with one hand on her hip and an arm draped over her head, letting Jason take her in for a minute.

"Yeah?" Steph smiled. "You like the Mad Max warrior chick aesthetic?" she grinned, biting on a fingertip and then seductively trailing it over the scars that Black Mask had left all over her body.

"It's hot as hell," Jason grinned. "My girl is a Grade A badass who's ferocious and sexy and brave and - the best thing that ever happened to me," he ended on a more choked up note.

Steph stopped posturing and melted into a gooey puddle of limp limbs and floppy smiles.

"It's the same for me, Jase," she breathed out as she crawled over the bed towards him. "You're the most amazing person I've ever known," she said, getting a little teary as Jason pushed the covers back and, oh, he had apparently and shamelessly slept behind her in the nude last night - a fact which Steph did not mind in the slightest.

"Wow," Steph breathed out as she ate Jason up with her eyes, kneeling back on her heels beside him. "I know I got this big boy off in the club," she said, reaching out to take Jason's cock lightly in her hand, "but damn, do I like getting to actually see it. You're gorgeous," she whispered right to his cock before planting a feathery kiss on its tip.

Jason made a muffled groan.

"My cock likes you, too," he giggled. "Mutual admiration. Can't wait to be inside you."

"Mm," Steph said, letting it go and walking her fingers up Jason's hard abs and muscled pecs. "He better be able to wait long enough for an adequate amount of foreplay," she warned, "or my pussy is gonna have something to say about it. I don't do dry and tight."

"Baby!" Jason said, sounding scandalized. "As if I'm not going to take the very best care of you," he pouted. "As if I haven't been dreaming every night about every single trick I'm going to use to get you all wet and needy," Jason went on in a lower voice, pushing himself upright to face Steph on his knees as his hands went to her hips.

"As if I haven't got ten thousand different ways planned to make you scream," he said in a dark, husky voice, and oh, fuck, Steph's belly was clenching and there was a trickle of moisture already leaking out of her.

"Ten thousand ways, huh?" she said breathily as Jason gently pushed her onto her back.

"And that's just for starters," he said as he kneeled over her and caged her in with his arms around her head.

Steph could hear her breathing loud and heavy in her ears as Jason's blue eyes glittered over her blown-wide-open ones, and her chest was constricting with tension, but the very best kind, and Jason's warm breath was mixing with her own as his lips hovered right over hers, and fuck, Steph felt like his prey and dear God, she wanted Jason to devour her.

Jason slowly bent down and caught her bottom lip between his, gently tugging it into his mouth before lightly biting on it, making Steph gasp and squirm as he worried it between his teeth until she was panting and moaning and trying to use her top lip to kiss him as best she could while her hands snuck up to grip his waist.

When a little whimper slipped out of her mouth, Jason let her lip go and pulled on her top one before slipping his tongue into her mouth, just the tip at first, teasing her as he dipped it in and out. Steph's pussy felt tight with anticipation and she felt herself arching her hips up, whining softly when she couldn't quite meet Jason's, since he was still kneeling over her.

"Easy, baby," Jason said softly, breaking their kiss. "We're gonna take it nice and slow."

Steph's whine got a little louder, making Jason chuckle.

"God, look at you, Stephie," he said fondly. "Such a mess for me already," he smiled.

"I want you so bad," Steph panted up to him, feeling swept away by more heat already than she'd ever felt during sex.

"Oh, you're gonna have me, baby," Jason said, bending down to kiss her again, light, little kisses that pulled away far too soon each time, leaving Steph trembling with want after a few minutes.

"Jason," Steph begged in a needy voice. "Jason, Jason," she murmured brokenly, squeezing his waist a little tighter with her hands.

"Fuck, Stephie," Jason said, picking his hands up from beside her head on the bed to cup her face.

"You are a fucking dream come true," Jason said to Steph before leaning in and really kissing her this time, pumping his tongue all the way into her mouth and making her moan in relief and desire and heat, because goddamn, was Jason sexy, but it was more than that - he _loved_ her, and Steph had never had sex with someone who loved her, or who she loved, for that matter, and she felt like she might fly apart from the intensity of it all, and they had barely started kissing.

Steph found her hands had traveled to Jason's back and she tugged at him insistently until he caved and stretched out, laying down on top of her with his hard cock pressing into her mound, and Steph's little whimper of delight sounded so happy that Jason answered it in a moan as he ground against her and deepened their already hot kiss.

Steph tangled a hand in Jason's hair when he turned his head to the side so he could kiss her neck, still holding her head in his hands and running fingers now through her hair to massage her scalp.

"Fuck - God - Jase!" Steph said suddenly when his lips hit a really sensitive spot.

Her legs flew around Jason's butt of their own accord as she frantically ground against him, because she was _right there_ already, holy fuck -

"Help me!" she begged Jason in a breathy but desperate laugh that ended in a tight cry of need that was no longer playing, because God, she was hovering on the brink and she could feel it racing up the backs of her thighs and pulsing through her throbbing clit and she was so close -

Jason quickly slipped a hand down in between them and ran fast, flicking fingers over her nub. Steph wavered for a second, choking out needy noises, until Jason finally grasped her clit between his thumb and index finger and massaged and tugged. Steph fell into her orgasm with a ragged cry, bursts of starlight and fireworks exploding in her clit as she quivered and came so hard she shook while moisture leaked out of her core onto the sheets and it was almost too much, all focused in her clit and not her inner walls, making her explosion tight and sharp and piercingly brilliant.

"Fuck, Jason," Steph gasped out. "Baby. God," she said, shivering into his shoulder while she came down. "I want you inside me," she begged him.

"Fingers first," Jason smirked, sliding them up and down Steph's now very wet folds, smearing her slick around before teasing the outside of her hole with his fingertips like he had her mouth with his tongue, barely dipping in and out until he finally relented and pressed a long finger up inside her.

"Ohh," Steph moaned, closing her eyes in bliss for a second. "God, I missed this," she said, reopening her eyes to smile at Jason, who smiled, too, before kissing her again.

"Me, too, babe," Jason said.

He let his other hand stray to her breast this time while they made out and finger-fucked, rubbing a calloused thumb over Steph's taut nipple and gently squeezing and massaging her boob until Steph was throwing her head back against his pillow and panting and thrusting her hips against his fingers.

She reached her own hand up to play with her second boob, but Jason nudged it away with his nose and sucked her tit into his mouth, and oh God, could Jason suck, and the different sensations on each breast were drawing the most fucked out keens from Steph's throat, and God, Jason had two fingers inside her now and oh fuck, the snugger fit felt amazing, and Steph felt her whole body seizing up again.

"Shit, right there!" she screamed when Jason hit the perfect spot inside her, and she didn't even have to tell him to go harder, because he had ramped up his pumping fingers on his own and was relentlessly hammering her cunt and it felt _so. good._ and Steph was gonna come so hard, and it was an almost painful kind of pressure against her pussy that she never wanted to stop, and Steph wailed and ground into Jason's fingers when she came, chasing the sharp pleasure as she kept coming and coming, so wet and filthy and his, all his, just Jason's, and she must have said it out loud, because Jason was answering her.

"That's right, Stephie," Jason growled. "Just mine," he said roughly as he continued to punish her cunt and Steph's toes curled and she was arching her back off the bed and she still didn't want Jason to stop because holy fuck, tears were leaking out of her eyes and she was rutting against him still, unwilling to let her high end.

"Whose girl are you?" Jason demanded as Steph writhed on his hand.

"Yours, Jase!" Steph cried. "Only yours."

"Fuck yeah, you are," Jason said proudly.

"More, more, more," Steph begged him as she started to come down.

"Oh, I'm gonna give you more, honey," Jason promised with a dark grin.

Steph barely had time to complain about his fingers sliding out of her before Jason's mouth was down on her clit, sucking wet, luscious tongue swirls against it and then licking broad stripes up and down her folds.

"Mm, I've been wanting you on my tongue again so bad, baby, after you gave me such a sweet little taste at the club," Jason said. "So good," he added, lifting his eyes up to meet Steph's for a second before diving right back in for more.

"Gonna eat this pussy out every day," Jason promised her after a deliciously long minute of licking up her slick right before he dove into Steph's dripping hole with his tongue, fucking it like he had her mouth while dragging a hand up over her thigh and back inside her folds to tease her clit again.

"Jason," Steph said urgently, reaching down and gripping his hair with both hands when her core began to shake and her clit began to scream.

"Yeah, come for me again, baby," Jason took a breath to say before resuming his tongue fuck.

Steph's breaths were going in and out so deep now that her whole stomach was heaving up and down and tickling her already sensitive clit, but when Jason slid his free hand under a butt cheek and squeezed hard was when Steph lost it, coming with Jason's hands still gripping her and forcing her through it while keeping her firmly attached to his probing tongue.

Steph's exhausted moan afterwards put a proud smile on Jason's face.

"Fuck now?" he asked her. "With my cock? Or you want more?" he asked her. "'Cause by my count, this is only three out of ten thousand, and I can keep going all morning, sweetheart."

Steph laughed weakly.

"Get that cock inside of me, Jason Todd. You know how long I've been waiting for it?"

"Yeah, Stephie," Jason said, his voice going soft and tender. "I do, baby. Me, too."

"Yeah," Steph whispered with a smile, reaching down for Jason with her fingers.

Jason grasped them gently and kissed her fingertips before he stretched back out on top of her.

"Um," Jason said as he stroked some of Steph's hair off her face, "I've always used condoms with other people," he said. "But I actually can't catch anything because of the Pit effects," he said. "So if you happened to be on birth control…" he trailed off with a significantly hopeful look.

"Hell, yeah, I am," Steph beamed at him. "IUD, baby. God, I want you raw so bad;" she said, bringing her hands up and holding Jason's face between them.

"I love you," Jason said seriously. "So fucking much, Stephie," he said, his voice cracking. "You don't even know -" he sniffed.

"I might have a little idea," Steph smiled up at him before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him long and soft. "I love you, too," she said when she pulled back. "More than I've ever loved anybody," she said, caressing Jason's cheek with her hand. "So much more," she added. "Like a thousand times - there's not even a comparison," she said.

Jason smiled at her with watery eyes and Steph smiled back and he took a deep breath.

"You ready?" he asked her, and she nodded.

Jason kept eye contact as he reached down to grab his cock and line the tip up with Steph's hole, and maybe both of their eyes got a little wetter when Jason pushed inside her, slow and deliberate, and Steph couldn't stop some little breathy moans from coming out.

Jason groaned, too, as he went in, still looking right into Steph's eyes, and there was that happy light on his face that Steph so loved knowing that she put there.

"Who's my man?" Steph whispered up at Jason when he was fully sunk inside of her, making them both shiver in delight.

"I am," Jason smiled down at her, looking absolutely awed by the concept.

"I am never going to leave you," Steph said, the words feeling tugged out of her by some kind of emotional magnet attached to Jason's heart and directed straight at hers.

Jason sniffed and kissed her, sweet and tender this time, and possessive and happy, too, and Steph kissed him back just the same, running her fingers through his hair and snuggling his head with all the crazy affection she felt for him and had been longing to pour out.

Jason drew his head back only the slightest bit so they could look into each other's eyes as he pulled his hips back, before sliding them slow and sensual into Steph, who was arching up to meet him.

"God," Steph whimpered when they came together. "I love you so much," she said brokenly as Jason continued thrusting at a slow, romantic pace.

"Me too, Stephie," Jason rasped out before catching her mouth in a kiss as deep as he was fucking her, a kiss that made Steph's pussy shiver and pulse around him and her clit start to sing again, as they kept kissing and fucking and looking at each other with wonder-filled eyes.

"'M never gonna let you go," Jason promised, stroking both hands back against Steph's face before tangling them in her hair.

"Good," Steph gasped out as Jason ground into a really good spot. "You'd better not," she smiled.

Jason smiled back and slid a hand down her arm until he reached her wrist, and then gently pulled her hand off his neck so he could interlock their fingers, pressing their hands together on the bed near Steph's head.

"I've wanted to make love to you so bad, sweetheart," he said, circling his hips while he fucked her like he was trying to drive into her just how much he cared.

Steph clenched her teeth together and moaned in a way that started to sound desperate.

"Yeah?" Jason said to her softly. "Like that, baby?" he asked her.

Steph nodded, too caught up in moans to talk but squeezing his hand tighter. When her eyes screwed shut as Jason kept massaging that one spot, he nipped at her lips.

"Don't hide from me, Stephie," Jason begged her when her eyes flew open. "Let me see my Jolene."

Steph managed a weak giggle around her gasps and moans and fought to keep looking at Jason, even while she tossed her head back on the pillow and squirmed under him.

"That's my beautiful girl," Jason murmured over her. "So good for me. So patient to wait for my cock. You happy it's inside you now, baby?"

"Yes," Steph choked out, letting out a deeper noise as Jason ground a little harder. "Yes, yes, Jase," she whimpered. "Wanted you so bad."

"I know, baby," Jason said, pushing his cock even deeper into her cunt. "I wanted you, too, angel."

Steph let out a sudden broken cry.

"There," she begged him. "There, there -"

Jason swept his tongue along hers as he began mercilessly driving into her. Steph's whimpers turned to high pitched sobs as he fucked her, gripping their intertwined hands together tight and gazing so passionately into Steph's tear-filled eyes that she felt them burn with the heat.

"God!" Steph screamed when she was about to come. "Yes!" she panted, "I love you I loveyouIloveyou-"

She cried out as her orgasm hit her, hard and amazing and God, she was finally coming around Jason's cock, and he was slamming into her and then coming too as he groaned out her name, and as they shook together Steph kept her eyes locked on his, sending out all the love that she was drowning in so she could drag Jason under with her.

"Fuck, I love you," Jason muttered as he collapsed down on top of Steph, exhausted.

Steph slid her arms around his neck and pressed little kisses to his forehead.

"You are the best thing that's ever happened to me, too, baby," she said to Jason. "Never doubt that. Ok?" she said.

"Ok," Jason mumbled happily.

They lay locked together for awhile, cuddling, before Jason suddenly perked up and lifted his head.

"Stephie?" he asked her.

"Yeah, baby?" she smiled.

"For our next date, would you wear that fishnet thingy again and let me take you back to the club?" he said eagerly.

A slow smile stretched across Steph's face.

"Only if you get me off again on the dance floor," she said.

"Would I ask you to wear a crotchless miracle garment for any other reason?" Jason scoffed. "But this time? I am _totally_ taking you home with me afterwards."

"Damn straight you are," Steph said contentedly.

And he did.

_The End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it! The smuttily romantic conclusion to our love story. Do I love these two more than any other ship? YES, YES I DO. 
> 
> But I love a lotta other ships, too, so please come check out my other fics! There's lots more JaySteph, of course, but plenty of other rarepairs and some longfics, AND keep an eye out for Batlantern Week towards the end of March, because ship ahoy! It's my first time writing for BruHal and I'm super excited about it!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey lovely readers! What's that you say? You're falling in love with JaySteph too!?
> 
> Come check out @fyeahjaysteph on Tumblr for fic recs, fanart, and incorrect quotes. Also, you can request a link to join the STAY JaySteph Discord from @dn-ky on Tumblr. And come follow me, too, @River9Noble
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments are much appreciated.


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